1968–69 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1968–69 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 43rd season in the NHL, and the club was coming off a 4th-place finish in the East Division in 1967–68, as they earned 80 points, and qualified for the post-season for the tenth consecutive season. The Black Hawks then upset the second place New York Rangers in the NHL quarter-finals, before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in five games in the NHL semi-finals.[1] But this season, the Blackhawks missed the postseason for the last time until 1998.

1968–69 Chicago Black Hawks
Division6th East
1968–69 record34–33–9
Home record20–14–4
Road record14–19–5
Goals for280
Goals against246
Team information
General managerTommy Ivan
CoachBilly Reay
CaptainVacant
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsBobby Hull (58)
AssistsStan Mikita (67)
PointsBobby Hull (107)
Penalty minutesGilles Marotte (120)
Plus/minusPat Stapleton and Gilles Marotte (+23)
WinsDenis DeJordy (22)
Goals against averageDenis DeJordy (3.14)

Offseason

The NHL announced during the summer that the league would once again increase its schedule, as it went from 74 games to 76.

During the off-season, the Black Hawks traded team captain Pierre Pilote to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Jim Pappin. Pilote had been the captain since the 1961–62 season, and head coach Billy Reay decided to not name a captain for the club for the season.

Regular season

The Black Hawks would start the season off on the right foot, beginning the year with a four-game winning streak, however, the team would eventually fall into a slump, and sit with a 6–6–0 record twelve games in. Chicago would then get hot again, and eventually found themselves a season high eight games over .500 during their streak, and found themselves in a heated playoff race with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings for the fourth and final playoff position in the East. The Hawks would then fall into a slump, as they had winless streaks of five games and eight games, to fall out of the race, and into the cellar of the East Division. Chicago would end the year with an over .500 record, as they were 34–33–9, earning 77 points, however, the team finished in last, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1957–58.[2]

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Bobby Hull, who once again set an NHL record for goals in a season, as he scored 58 times, and he became the second player in league history to record 100 points, as he finished the season with 107 points, which was second in league scoring. Stan Mikita had another excellent season also, scoring 30 goals and earning 97 points as he finished fourth in NHL scoring. Newly acquired Jim Pappin fit right in, scoring 30 goals and 70 points. Kenny Wharram and Dennis Hull also scored 30 goals to give the Hawks five players with 30+ goals in the season. Pat Stapleton led the defense with 56 points, while Gilles Marotte led the team with 120 penalty minutes, and tied Stapleton with the team lead in plus/minus, with a +23.

In goal, Denis DeJordy saw most of the action, playing in 53 games, earning a team high 22 victories, and a team best 3.14 GAA, along with 2 shutouts.[3] Backup Dave Dryden played well, earning 11 victories, while earning a team best 3 shutouts.[4]

Season standings
East Division[5]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens76461911271202+69103
2Boston Bruins76421816303221+82100
3New York Rangers7641269231196+3591
4Toronto Maple Leafs76352615234217+1785
5Detroit Red Wings76333112239221+1878
6Chicago Black Hawks7634339280246+3477

Record vs. opponents
1968-69 NHL Records
Team BOS CHI DET LAK MIN MON NYR OAK PHI PIT STL TOR
Boston —5–2–13–2–35–14–0–24–2–23–3–23–1–24–25–12–2–24–2–2
Chicago 2–5–1—3–4–15–15–0–11–74–3–11–53–0–34–23–2–13–4–1
Detroit 2–3–34–3–1—4–24–22–5–14–3–13–2–13–1–24–20–4–23–4–1
Los Angeles 1–51–52–4—1–4–30–4–23–34–2–23–4–15–2–11–6–13–3
Minnesota 0–4–20–5–12–44–1–3—0–5–11–53–4–12–3–33–52–4–21–3–2
Montreal 2–4–27–15–2–14–0–25–0–1—3–4–12–3–15–14–1–15–0–14–3–1
New York 3–3–23–4–13–4–13–35–14–3–1—5–13–1–25–13–1–24–4
Oakland 1–3–25–12–3–12–4–24–3–13–2–11–5—4–2–24–2–21–72–4
Philadelphia 2–40–3–31–3–24–3–13–2–31–51–3–22–4–2—4–1–31–6–11–1–4
Pittsburgh 1–52–42–42–5–15–31–4–11–52–4–21–4–3—3–4–10–3–3
St. Louis 2–2–22–3–14–0–26–1–14–2–20–5–11–3–27–16–1–14–3–1—1–4–1
Toronto 2–4–24–3–14–3–13–33–1–23–4–14–44–21–1–43–0–34–1–1—

Game log
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 11St. Louis Blues3–4Chicago Black Hawks1–0–02
2October 13New York Rangers2–5Chicago Black Hawks2–0–04
3October 16Minnesota North Stars4–10Chicago Black Hawks3–0–06
4October 19Chicago Black Hawks3–1Toronto Maple Leafs4–0–08
5October 20Oakland Seals4–3Chicago Black Hawks4–1–08
6October 23Chicago Black Hawks8–5Pittsburgh Penguins5–1–010
7October 27Chicago Black Hawks3–4Detroit Red Wings5–2–010
8October 30Chicago Black Hawks4–2Los Angeles Kings6–2–012
9November 1Chicago Black Hawks2–5Oakland Seals6–3–012
10November 3Chicago Black Hawks3–5Boston Bruins6–4–012
11November 6Detroit Red Wings6–5Chicago Black Hawks6–5–012
12November 10New York Rangers4–2Chicago Black Hawks6–6–012
13November 13Pittsburgh Penguins5–6Chicago Black Hawks7–6–014
14November 14Chicago Black Hawks6–4Pittsburgh Penguins8–6–016
15November 16Chicago Black Hawks1–3Toronto Maple Leafs8–7–016
16November 17Toronto Maple Leafs1–1Chicago Black Hawks8–7–117
17November 20Chicago Black Hawks2–0Minnesota North Stars9–7–119
18November 23Chicago Black Hawks0–1St. Louis Blues9–8–119
19November 24Minnesota North Stars0–6Chicago Black Hawks10–8–121
20November 27Chicago Black Hawks4–2New York Rangers11–8–123
21November 28Pittsburgh Penguins3–2Chicago Black Hawks11–9–123
22December 1Montreal Canadiens3–1Chicago Black Hawks11–10–123
23December 4Chicago Black Hawks3–3St. Louis Blues11–10–224
24December 7Chicago Black Hawks3–6Montreal Canadiens11–11–224
25December 8Boston Bruins4–7Chicago Black Hawks12–11–226
26December 11St. Louis Blues3–6Chicago Black Hawks13–11–228
27December 14Chicago Black Hawks5–10Boston Bruins13–12–228
28December 15Oakland Seals4–7Chicago Black Hawks14–12–230
29December 18Chicago Black Hawks3–1New York Rangers15–12–232
30December 19Chicago Black Hawks2–0Detroit Red Wings16–12–234
31December 22Pittsburgh Penguins1–3Chicago Black Hawks17–12–236
32December 25Toronto Maple Leafs4–3Chicago Black Hawks17–13–236
33December 28Chicago Black Hawks5–2Minnesota North Stars18–13–238
34December 29Los Angeles Kings1–4Chicago Black Hawks19–13–240
35January 1Detroit Red Wings1–4Chicago Black Hawks20–13–242
36January 2Chicago Black Hawks2–2Philadelphia Flyers20–13–343
37January 4Chicago Black Hawks6–3Montreal Canadiens21–13–345
38January 5Montreal Canadiens4–2Chicago Black Hawks21–14–345
39January 8St. Louis Blues1–3Chicago Black Hawks22–14–347
40January 11Chicago Black Hawks1–6St. Louis Blues22–15–347
41January 12Los Angeles Kings2–4Chicago Black Hawks23–15–349
42January 15Chicago Black Hawks3–4Oakland Seals23–16–349
43January 16Chicago Black Hawks2–3Los Angeles Kings23–17–349
44January 18Chicago Black Hawks1–3Montreal Canadiens23–18–349
45January 23Philadelphia Flyers2–2Chicago Black Hawks23–18–450
46January 25Chicago Black Hawks0–3New York Rangers23–19–450
47January 26Los Angeles Kings3–9Chicago Black Hawks24–19–452
48January 30Chicago Black Hawks12–0Philadelphia Flyers25–19–454
49February 1Chicago Black Hawks5–5Minnesota North Stars25–19–555
50February 2Montreal Canadiens6–4Chicago Black Hawks25–20–555
51February 5Boston Bruins7–2Chicago Black Hawks25–21–555
52February 6Chicago Black Hawks1–6Detroit Red Wings25–22–555
53February 8Detroit Red Wings3–1Chicago Black Hawks25–23–555
54February 9Toronto Maple Leafs5–3Chicago Black Hawks25–24–555
55February 11Chicago Black Hawks3–7Boston Bruins25–25–555
56February 12Philadelphia Flyers3–3Chicago Black Hawks25–25–656
57February 15Chicago Black Hawks3–0Philadelphia Flyers26–25–658
58February 16Boston Bruins1–5Chicago Black Hawks27–25–660
59February 19Chicago Black Hawks2–5Oakland Seals27–26–660
60February 20Chicago Black Hawks6–2Los Angeles Kings28–26–662
61February 22Chicago Black Hawks4–2Toronto Maple Leafs29–26–664
62February 26Chicago Black Hawks3–5New York Rangers29–27–664
63February 27Chicago Black Hawks3–4Pittsburgh Penguins29–28–664
64March 2Chicago Black Hawks1–2Toronto Maple Leafs29–29–664
65March 3Minnesota North Stars1–6Chicago Black Hawks30–29–666
66March 5New York Rangers4–4Chicago Black Hawks30–29–767
67March 12Oakland Seals4–1Chicago Black Hawks30–30–767
68March 15Chicago Black Hawks1–3Montreal Canadiens30–31–767
69March 16Philadelphia Flyers2–6Chicago Black Hawks31–31–769
70March 19Montreal Canadiens5–2Chicago Black Hawks31–32–769
71March 20Chicago Black Hawks5–5Boston Bruins31–32–870
72March 22Boston Bruins5–3Chicago Black Hawks31–33–870
73March 23Toronto Maple Leafs1–4Chicago Black Hawks32–33–872
74March 26New York Rangers4–6Chicago Black Hawks33–33–874
75March 29Chicago Black Hawks1–1Detroit Red Wings33–33–975
76March 30Detroit Red Wings5–9Chicago Black Hawks34–33–977

Season stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Bobby Hull74584910748
Stan Mikita7430679752
Jim Pappin7530407049
Kenny Wharram7630396919
Dennis Hull7230346425

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Denis DeJordy5329812222715623.14
Dave Dryden301479111127933.20
Jack Norris31001001006.00

Roster
1968–1969 Chicago Black Hawks Roster
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1968 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
19John Marks CanadaUniversity of North Dakota (NCAA)

References
  1. 1967–68 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com
  2. 1968–69 Chicago Black Hawks Games – Hockey-Reference.com
  3. "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Denis Dejordy". Archived from the original on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  4. "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Dave Dryden". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  5. "1968–1969 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.

Sources
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