1943–44 Chicago Black Hawks season

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.

1943–44 Chicago Black Hawks
Division4th NHL
1943–44 record22–23–5
Home record15–6–4
Road record7–17–1
Goals for178
Goals against187
Team information
General managerBill Tobin
CoachPaul Thompson
CaptainDoug Bentley
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsDoug Bentley (38)
AssistsClint Smith (49)
PointsDoug Bentley (77)
Penalty minutesEarl Seibert (40)
WinsMike Karakas (12)
Goals against averageMike Karakas (3.04)

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 first-round playoff date with the second place Detroit Red Wings, who finished 9 points better than Chicago in the regular season, in a best-of-seven series. The Hawks and Wings would split the opening two games in Detroit, and Chicago would take a 2–1 series lead by shutting out the Red Wings in game three. The Black Hawks would dominate game four, winning 7–1 and take a commanding 3–1 series lead. Chicago would then complete the upset in game five, 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
1Montreal Canadiens503857234109+12583
2Detroit Red Wings5026186214177+3758
3Toronto Maple Leafs5023234214174+4050
4Chicago Black Hawks5022235178187−949
5Boston Bruins5019265223268−4543
6New York Rangers506395162310−14817

Record vs. opponents
1943-44 NHL Records
Team BOS CHI DET MON NYR TOR
Boston —5–51–7–23–5–27–2–13–7
Chicago 5–5—5–50–8–27–1–25–4–1
Detroit 7–1–25–5—0–9–18–1–16–2–2
Montreal 5–3–28–0–29–0–1—9–0–17–2–1
New York 2–7–11–7–21–8–10–9–1—2–8
Toronto 7–34–5–12–6–22–7–18–2—

Game log

Regular season
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 31Toronto Maple Leafs4–1Chicago Black Hawks0–1–00
2November 4Montreal Canadiens5–3Chicago Black Hawks0–2–00
3November 6Chicago Black Hawks4–3New York Rangers1–2–02
4November 7Chicago Black Hawks1–5Montreal Canadiens1–3–02
5November 11Boston Bruins4–6Chicago Black Hawks2–3–04
6November 13Chicago Black Hawks4–1Toronto Maple Leafs3–3–06
7November 14New York Rangers5–10Chicago Black Hawks4–3–08
8November 18Boston Bruins3–7Chicago Black Hawks5–3–010
9November 21Chicago Black Hawks2–5Detroit Red Wings5–4–010
10November 25Detroit Red Wings3–4Chicago Black Hawks6–4–012
11November 28Boston Bruins4–5Chicago Black Hawks7–4–014
12November 30Chicago Black Hawks5–6Boston Bruins7–5–014
13December 2Chicago Black Hawks2–6Montreal Canadiens7–6–014
14December 5New York Rangers6–7Chicago Black Hawks8–6–016
15December 12Toronto Maple Leafs2–3Chicago Black Hawks9–6–018
16December 14Chicago Black Hawks3–4Boston Bruins9–7–018
17December 18Chicago Black Hawks4–8Toronto Maple Leafs9–8–018
18December 19Toronto Maple Leafs5–2Chicago Black Hawks9–9–018
19December 22Detroit Red Wings1–7Chicago Black Hawks10–9–020
20December 25Chicago Black Hawks1–5Montreal Canadiens10–10–020
21December 26Chicago Black Hawks6–7New York Rangers10–11–020
22January 1Montreal Canadiens4–0Chicago Black Hawks10–12–020
23January 4Chicago Black Hawks4–6Boston Bruins10–13–020
24January 6Chicago Black Hawks1–6Toronto Maple Leafs10–14–020
25January 9Chicago Black Hawks2–4Detroit Red Wings10–15–020
26January 13Chicago Black Hawks5–2New York Rangers11–15–022
27January 16Montreal Canadiens1–1Chicago Black Hawks11–15–123
28January 20Chicago Black Hawks3–4Detroit Red Wings11–16–123
29January 23Toronto Maple Leafs3–5Chicago Black Hawks12–16–125
30January 27New York Rangers4–6Chicago Black Hawks13–16–127
31January 29Chicago Black Hawks4–3Toronto Maple Leafs14–16–129
32January 30Detroit Red Wings2–3Chicago Black Hawks15–16–131
33February 1Chicago Black Hawks2–0Boston Bruins16–16–133
34February 5Chicago Black Hawks1–5Montreal Canadiens16–17–133
35February 6Chicago Black Hawks4–4New York Rangers16–17–234
36February 10Boston Bruins5–4Chicago Black Hawks16–18–234
37February 13Montreal Canadiens2–2Chicago Black Hawks16–18–335
38February 20Toronto Maple Leafs0–0Chicago Black Hawks16–18–436
39February 22Chicago Black Hawks8–4New York Rangers17–18–438
40February 26Chicago Black Hawks3–2Toronto Maple Leafs18–18–440
41February 27New York Rangers2–4Chicago Black Hawks19–18–442
42March 2Boston Bruins2–4Chicago Black Hawks20–18–444
43March 4Chicago Black Hawks2–6Detroit Red Wings20–19–444
44March 5Detroit Red Wings1–6Chicago Black Hawks21–19–446
45March 9Montreal Canadiens3–2Chicago Black Hawks21–20–446
46March 12New York Rangers4–4Chicago Black Hawks21–20–547
47March 14Chicago Black Hawks4–6Boston Bruins21–21–547
48March 16Chicago Black Hawks2–3Montreal Canadiens21–22–547
49March 18Chicago Black Hawks3–6Detroit Red Wings21–23–547
50March 19Detroit Red Wings0–2Chicago Black Hawks22–23–549

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Detroit Red Wings 1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 21Chicago Black Hawks2–1Detroit Red Wings1–0
2March 23Chicago Black Hawks1–4Detroit Red Wings1–1
3March 26Detroit Red Wings0–2Chicago Black Hawks2–1
4March 28Detroit Red Wings1–7Chicago Black Hawks3–1
5March 30Chicago Black Hawks5–2Detroit Red Wings4–1

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 4Chicago Black Hawks1–5Montreal Canadiens0–1
2April 6Montreal Canadiens3–1Chicago Black Hawks0–2
3April 9Montreal Canadiens3–2Chicago Black Hawks0–3
4April 13Chicago Black Hawks4–5Montreal Canadiens0–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Doug Bentley5038397722
Clint Smith502349724
Bill Mosienko5032387010
Cully Dahlstrom502022428
George Allen4517244136

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Mike Karakas26156012957933.04
Hec Highton2414401014010804.50

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Doug Bentley984124
Clint Smith948120
George Allen95498
Bill Mosienko82246
Cully Dahlstrom90446

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Mike Karakas9549452412.62

References
Notes
  1. "Standings: 1943–1944". National Hockey League. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
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