1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season

1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks
Presidents' Trophy Winners
Norris Division Champions
Division 1st Norris
Conference 1st Campbell
1990–91 record 49–23–8
Home record 28–8–4
Road record 21–15–4
Goals for 284
Goals against 211
Team information
General Manager Mike Keenan
Coach Mike Keenan
Captain Dirk Graham
Alternate captains Steve Larmer
Chris Chelios
Arena Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals Steve Larmer (44)
Points Steve Larmer (101)
Penalties in minutes Mike Peluso (320)
Wins Ed Belfour (43)
Goals against average Jimmy Waite (2.00)
<1989–90 1991–92>

The 1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season was the team's 65th season. After making the Conference Finals two years in a row, the Blackhawks were hosts for one of the most emotional NHL All-Star Game games in history, and finished with 106 points winning the NHL Presidents' Trophy for best record in the league. The Hawks received terrific performances from Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Dirk Graham and rookie Ed Belfour. Hockey it seemed was back in Chicago, and dreams of the first Stanley Cup since Hull and Mikita were rampant. However the playoffs matched the Hawks with their old rivals, the Minnesota North Stars, who crushed their dreams with a defeat in the first round of the 1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs - four games to two. 90-91 represented the peak of the Blackhawks between the Hull/Mikita years and the Toews/Kane years, and is probably the best Blackhawks team never to win the Stanley Cup.

Offseason

Coach Mike Keenan became General Manager and Coach, and traded fan-favorite Denis Savard to the Montreal Canadians for Chicago native Chris Chelios in the summer of 1990. Several of the older Blackhawks (Al Secord, Bob Murray and Duane Sutter) retired.

NHL Draft

Round Pick Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team
1 16 Karl Dykhuis (D)  Canada Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)

Regular season

The Blackhawks would play at a high level all season as they won the Norris Division and their first President's Trophy for having the best record in the NHL with a record of 49-23-8 - good for 106 points. The Hawks edged St. Louis for both of these regular season titles as the Blues finished second with 105 points on the last day of the season with a win over the Red Wings. In addition to winning the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best team during the regular season, the Blackhawks also were the NHL's best defence, having allowed only 211 goals over 80 games. Despite being the most penalized team during the regular season, with 425 short-handed situations, the Blackhawks had a penalty-killing percentage of 84.00%, good enough for 2nd place in the league. The Blackhawks also led the NHL in short-handed goals scored, with 20.[1]

On October 25, 1990, Steve Larmer scored just 8 seconds into the overtime period to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 home win over the Washington Capitals.[2] It would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored during the 1990-91 NHL regular season.[3]

All-Star Game

The 42nd National Hockey League All-Star Game took place in Chicago Stadium, home of the Chicago Blackhawks, on January 19, 1991. The game saw the team of Campbell conference all-stars beat the team of Wales conference all-stars 11–5.

While the game was high-scoring and exciting, the real story was the emotions. First from a hockey perspective, Chicago had not hosted an All-Star Game since 1974, and the Blackhawks resurgence was fueled by three All-Stars - Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick (his first) and Chris Chelios, all of whom received great ovations from the hometown fans during introductions. The second, larger perspective was that the game was played during the war with Iraq, and Operation Desert Storm had just started two days earlier. Some players asked that the game be delayed, but the league pressed on and players wore decals on their helmets supporting the troops. When Wayne Messmer stepped to the microphone and the organ began to play the pre-game National Anthem, the roam from the Chicago Stadium crowd, many of who waved flags and sparklers was deafening and sustained over the length of the song, totally overwhelming the performance, and creating a patriotic moment of history that transcended the sport.

Season standings

Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Chicago Blackhawks 80 49 23 8 284 211 106
St. Louis Blues 80 47 22 11 310 250 105
Detroit Red Wings 80 34 38 8 273 298 76
Minnesota North Stars 80 27 39 14 256 266 68
Toronto Maple Leafs 80 23 46 11 241 318 57

[4]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Campbell Conference[5]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Chicago Blackhawks NRS 80 49 23 8 284 211 106
2 St. Louis Blues NRS 80 47 22 11 310 250 105
3 Los Angeles Kings SMY 80 46 24 10 340 254 102
4 Calgary Flames SMY 80 46 26 8 344 263 100
5 Edmonton Oilers SMY 80 37 37 6 272 272 80
6 Detroit Red Wings NRS 80 34 38 8 273 298 76
7 Minnesota North Stars NRS 80 27 39 14 256 266 68
8 Vancouver Canucks SMY 80 28 43 9 243 315 65
9 Winnipeg Jets SMY 80 26 43 11 260 288 63
10 Toronto Maple Leafs NRS 80 23 46 11 241 318 57

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 4, 19904–3 New York Rangers (1990–91) 1–0–0
2WOctober 6, 19905–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 2–0–0
3LOctober 7, 19902–4 New York Islanders (1990–91) 2–1–0
4WOctober 11, 19904–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91) 3–1–0
5WOctober 13, 19904–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 4–1–0
6LOctober 14, 19901–3 Calgary Flames (1990–91) 4–2–0
7LOctober 16, 19902–3 @ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 4–3–0
8WOctober 18, 19903–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 5–3–0
9LOctober 20, 19902–6 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 5–4–0
10WOctober 21, 19907–1 Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 6–4–0
11WOctober 25, 19903–2 OT Washington Capitals (1990–91) 7–4–0
12LOctober 27, 19904–5 @ Boston Bruins (1990–91) 7–5–0
13WOctober 28, 19902–1 OT Montreal Canadiens (1990–91) 8–5–0
14WNovember 1, 19906–2 Quebec Nordiques (1990–91) 9–5–0
15WNovember 3, 19903–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91) 10–5–0
16LNovember 4, 19900–2 Los Angeles Kings (1990–91) 10–6–0
17TNovember 6, 19901–1 OT @ Hartford Whalers (1990–91) 10–6–1
18WNovember 8, 19905–3 Edmonton Oilers (1990–91) 11–6–1
19WNovember 10, 19905–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 12–6–1
20TNovember 11, 19903–3 OT Winnipeg Jets (1990–91) 12–6–2
21WNovember 14, 19903–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 13–6–2
22WNovember 16, 19904–3 @ Washington Capitals (1990–91) 14–6–2
23WNovember 17, 19907–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91) 15–6–2
24WNovember 20, 19903–1 @ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91) 16–6–2
25LNovember 21, 19901–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91) 16–7–2
26WNovember 24, 19905–3 @ Calgary Flames (1990–91) 17–7–2
27LNovember 29, 19901–5 Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 17–8–2
28LDecember 1, 19903–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 17–9–2
29WDecember 2, 19903–2 St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 18–9–2
30WDecember 6, 19905–2 New York Islanders (1990–91) 19–9–2
31WDecember 8, 19902–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 20–9–2
32LDecember 9, 19904–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91) 20–10–2
33WDecember 11, 19904–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91) 21–10–2
34WDecember 13, 19905–4 Winnipeg Jets (1990–91) 22–10–2
35LDecember 15, 19901–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 22–11–2
36WDecember 16, 19905–2 Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 23–11–2
37WDecember 19, 19903–2 Washington Capitals (1990–91) 24–11–2
38LDecember 22, 19900–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 24–12–2
39WDecember 23, 19903–2 Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 25–12–2
40TDecember 26, 19906–6 OT St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 25–12–3
41LDecember 28, 19900–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91) 25–13–3
42WDecember 29, 19903–1 @ New York Islanders (1990–91) 26–13–3
43WDecember 31, 19904–0 @ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 27–13–3
44WJanuary 3, 19915–3 New Jersey Devils (1990–91) 28–13–3
45LJanuary 6, 19911–3 Los Angeles Kings (1990–91) 28–14–3
46WJanuary 10, 19917–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 29–14–3
47WJanuary 11, 19913–1 @ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91) 30–14–3
48WJanuary 13, 19915–3 Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 31–14–3
49TJanuary 16, 19912–2 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1990–91) 31–14–4
50WJanuary 17, 19913–2 @ New York Rangers (1990–91) 32–14–4
51LJanuary 24, 19914–5 Buffalo Sabres (1990–91) 32–15–4
52WJanuary 26, 19915–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 33–15–4
53WJanuary 28, 19911–0 @ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91) 34–15–4
54LFebruary 1, 19913–4 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91) 34–16–4
55LFebruary 2, 19911–3 @ Calgary Flames (1990–91) 34–17–4
56WFebruary 6, 19918–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91) 35–17–4
57LFebruary 9, 19913–5 @ Boston Bruins (1990–91) 35–18–4
58LFebruary 10, 19911–3 @ Hartford Whalers (1990–91) 35–19–4
59WFebruary 14, 19912–1 OT Quebec Nordiques (1990–91) 36–19–4
60TFebruary 17, 19913–3 OT Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 36–19–5
61LFebruary 18, 19913–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91) 36–20–5
62WFebruary 21, 19914–1 Boston Bruins (1990–91) 37–20–5
63TFebruary 23, 19913–3 OT @ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 37–20–6
64WFebruary 24, 19916–2 St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 38–20–6
65LFebruary 26, 19911–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 38–21–6
66WFebruary 28, 19916–3 Hartford Whalers (1990–91) 39–21–6
67WMarch 3, 19918–0 Vancouver Canucks (1990–91) 40–21–6
68LMarch 6, 19913–5 Montreal Canadiens (1990–91) 40–22–6
69WMarch 8, 19915–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91) 41–22–6
70WMarch 10, 19915–2 New York Rangers (1990–91) 42–22–6
71WMarch 14, 19916–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91) 43–22–6
72WMarch 16, 19913–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 44–22–6
73WMarch 17, 19916–4 St. Louis Blues (1990–91) 45–22–6
74TMarch 21, 19912–2 OT New Jersey Devils (1990–91) 45–22–7
75WMarch 23, 19917–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91) 46–22–7
76WMarch 24, 19915–4 Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 47–22–7
77TMarch 26, 19912–2 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 47–22–8
78WMarch 28, 19915–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91) 48–22–8
79LMarch 30, 19911–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1990–91) 48–23–8
80WMarch 31, 19915–1 Detroit Red Wings (1990–91) 49–23–8

[6]

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Larmer, SteveSteve Larmer RW 80 44 57 101 79371729
Roenick, JeremyJeremy Roenick C 79 41 53 94 803815410
Goulet, MichelMichel Goulet LW 74 27 38 65 6527901
Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios D 77 12 52 64 19223522
Thomas, SteveSteve Thomas LW 69 19 35 54 1298203
Creighton, AdamAdam Creighton C 72 22 29 51 13501026
Graham, DirkDirk Graham W 80 24 21 45 8812467
Wilson, DougDoug Wilson D 51 11 29 40 3225611
Murray, TroyTroy Murray C 75 14 23 37 7413402
Presley, WayneWayne Presley RW 71 15 19 34 12211103
Manson, DaveDave Manson D 75 14 15 29 19120612
Gilbert, GregGreg Gilbert LW 72 10 15 25 586100
Hudson, MikeMike Hudson C/LW 55 7 9 16 625001
Yawney, TrentTrent Yawney D 61 3 13 16 776300
Kucera, FrantisekFrantisek Kucera D 40 2 12 14 323100
Lemieux, JocelynJocelyn Lemieux RW 67 6 7 13 119-7112
Konroyd, SteveSteve Konroyd D 70 0 12 12 4011000
Brown, KeithKeith Brown D 45 1 10 11 559000
McGill, BobBob McGill D 77 4 5 9 1518000
Peluso, MikeMike Peluso LW 53 6 1 7 320-3200
Gillis, PaulPaul Gillis C 13 0 5 5 531000
McNeill, MikeMike McNeill RW 23 2 2 4 6-1010
Noonan, BrianBrian Noonan RW 7 0 4 4 2-1000
Belfour, EdEd Belfour G 74 0 3 3 340000
Grimson, StuStu Grimson LW 35 0 1 1 183-3000
McKegney, TonyTony McKegney LW 9 0 1 1 4-2000
Stapleton, MikeMike Stapleton C 7 0 1 1 20000
Cloutier, JacquesJacques Cloutier G 10 0 0 0 20000
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek G 5 0 0 0 00000
Millen, GregGreg Millen G 3 0 0 0 00000
Russell, CamCam Russell D 3 0 0 0 51000
Waite, JimmyJimmy Waite G 1 0 0 0 00000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Belfour, EdEd Belfour 4127 74 43 19 7 170 2.47 418831713.910
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek 195 5 3 0 1 8 2.46 09385.914
Cloutier, JacquesJacques Cloutier 403 10 2 3 0 24 3.57 0175151.863
Waite, JimmyJimmy Waite 60 1 1 0 0 2 2.00 02826.929
Millen, GregGreg Millen 58 3 0 1 0 4 4.14 03228.875
Team: 4843 80 49 23 8 208 2.58 422112003.906

Playoffs

After reaching the Conference finals the prior two years and winning the President's Trophy, hopes were extremely high entering the playoffs. The first round again reunited the Hawks with their old rivals from Minnesota who the Blackhawks needed seven games to dispatch in the prior year when the North Stars were the last place team in the division. This series however would not last seven games. The teams needed overtime to determine the winner of Game 1 at the Chicago Stadium, however it was Minnesota who emerged as the 4-3 winner. The Hawks won Games 2 and 3, an easy 5-2 win in Chicago, and a close 6-5 win in Minnesota. However the North Stars swept the remaining games in blowout fashion including a 6-0 shutout on the Hawks home ice in Game 5. What was looking like it could be one of the greatest seasons in Hawks history was suddenly over. Minnesota won their next two series and reached the Stanley Cup where they lost to Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Roenick, JeremyJeremy Roenick C 6 3 5 8 42101
Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios D 6 1 7 8 462100
Larmer, SteveSteve Larmer RW 6 5 1 6 42100
Rychel, WarrenWarren Rychel LW 3 1 3 4 21101
Wilson, DougDoug Wilson D 5 2 1 3 21200
Graham, DirkDirk Graham W 6 1 2 3 172000
Thomas, SteveSteve Thomas LW 6 1 2 3 153000
Hudson, MikeMike Hudson C/LW 6 0 2 2 81000
Brown, KeithKeith Brown D 6 1 0 1 80000
Konroyd, SteveSteve Konroyd D 6 1 0 1 81000
Creighton, AdamAdam Creighton C 6 0 1 1 100000
Gilbert, GregGreg Gilbert LW 5 0 1 1 21000
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek G 3 0 1 1 00000
Manson, DaveDave Manson D 6 0 1 1 362000
Murray, TroyTroy Murray C 6 0 1 1 120000
Presley, WayneWayne Presley RW 6 0 1 1 380000
Belfour, EdEd Belfour G 6 0 0 0 60000
Gillis, PaulPaul Gillis C 2 0 0 0 21000
Grimson, StuStu Grimson LW 5 0 0 0 46-1000
Lemieux, JocelynJocelyn Lemieux RW 4 0 0 0 0-2000
McGill, BobBob McGill D 5 0 0 0 21000
McKegney, TonyTony McKegney LW 2 0 0 0 40000
Peluso, MikeMike Peluso LW 3 0 0 0 2-1000
Russell, CamCam Russell D 1 0 0 0 0-1000
Yawney, TrentTrent Yawney D 1 0 0 0 00000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Belfour, EdEd Belfour 295 6 2 4 20 4.07 0183163.891
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek 69 3 0 0 3 2.61 03936.923
Team: 364 6 2 4 23 3.79 0222199.896

[7]

Note: Pos = Position; 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; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

References

  1. http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1991.html
  2. http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-10-26/sports/9003310282_1_steve-larmer-hawks-ed-belfour
  3. http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1991_games.html
  4. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  5. "1990-1991 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  6. "1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  7. "1990-91 Chicago Blackhawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
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