1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks season was the 54th season of operation of the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League. The club was coming off a first-place finish in the Smythe Division in the 1978-79, despite finishing with a 29-36-15 record. In the 1979 playoffs, the Black Hawks were swept by the New York Islanders in the quarter-finals.

1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
1979–80 record34–27–19
Goals for241
Goals against250
Team information
General managerBob Pulford
CoachEddie Johnston
CaptainKeith Magnuson
Terry Ruskowski
Alternate captainsNone
Average attendance11,700 (70.2%)

Off-season

During the off-season, the Black Hawks named Eddie Johnston as their new head coach, as Bob Pulford stepped down to focus on his general manager duties. Johnston was previously the head coach of the New Brunswick Hawks, Chicago's AHL affiliate, in 1978-79, leading the team to a 41-29-10 record. Johnston was also a former goaltender, playing in the NHL from 1962-1978, earning a 234-257-80 record with a 3.25 GAA in 592 career games while playing for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Black Hawks. Johnston won two Stanley Cup championships with the Bruins in 1970 and 1972.

With the NHL expanding to 21 teams, as the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets joined the league from the WHA, the Hawks remained in the Smythe Division, with the Oilers and Jets joining Chicago, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks to form the only six team division in the league.

At the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft, Chicago made a deal with the Quebec Nordiques, as the Hawks agreed to not reclaim Real Cloutier from the Nordiques in exchange for Quebec's first round draft pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to the draft, the Hawks reclaimed Bobby Hull and Terry Ruskowski from the Winnipeg Jets and John Garrett from the Hartford Whalers. During the draft, Chicago lost Hull to Winnipeg, Garrett and Jean Savard to the Whalers, Doug Hicks and Reg Thomas to the Edmonton Oilers. The Hawks added Rich Preston from the Jets at the draft.

Regular season

The Black Hawks had a poor start to the season, as they club had a record of 3-6-3 in their first 12 games. The club continued to struggle, as Chicago won only eight of their first 29 games, going 8-11-10, however, the Hawks were in second place in the Smythe Division, five points behind the first place Vancouver Canucks. The Hawks then went 9-3-2 in their next 14 games, improving their overall record to 17-14-12, charging into first place, five points ahead of the second place St. Louis Blues. Chicago would hold on to first place for the rest of the season, finishing with a 34-27-19 record, earning 87 points, for their third consecutive division title, and eighth in the last eleven seasons.

Offensively, the club was led by Terry Ruskowski, who joined the Black Hawks after being reclaimed in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft by the team from the Winnipeg Jets, as he had a team high 70 points, scoring 15 goals and 55 assists. He also led the club with 252 penalty minutes. Tom Lysiak finished second in team scoring with 26 goals and 69 points, while Grant Mulvey had a team high 39 goals, while adding 26 assists for 65 points. Rich Preston also broke the 30 goal plateau, as he had 31 goals and 61 points and had a team best +16 rating. On defence, Doug Wilson led the way with 12 goals and 61 points, while Bob Murray had another excellent season, scoring 16 goals and 50 points.

In goal, Tony Esposito saw the majority of playing time, going 31-22-16 with a 2.97 GAA in 69 games.

Final standings
Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Chicago Black Hawks8034271924125087
St. Louis Blues8034341226627880
Vancouver Canucks8027371625628170
Edmonton Oilers8028391330132269
Winnipeg Jets8020491121431451
Colorado Rockies8019481323430851

[1]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.

Playoffs

The Black Hawks opened the playoffs with a best-of-five preliminary series against the St. Louis Blues. The Blues finished the season with a 34-34-12 record, earning 80 points and second place in the Smythe Division, seven points behind Chicago. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium. The first game would be decided in overtime, after the clubs played to a 2-2 tie after regulation time. In the extra period, the Hawks Doug Lecuyer scored and ended the Black Hawks 16 game playoff game losing streak, as Chicago took the series opener by a 3-2 score. It marked the first time since 1975 that Chicago had won a playoff game. In the second game, the Hawks, led by Doug Wilson and his two goals, easily defeated the Blues 5-1 to take a 2-0 series lead. The series shifted to The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri for the third game, and the Hawks, led by Doug Lecuyer and his two goals, as well as 23 saves by goaltender Tony Esposito, completed the series sweep.

In the NHL quarter-finals, the Black Hawks faced the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo finished the season with a 47-17-16 record, earning 110 points and first place in the Adams Division. The Sabres then defeated the Vancouver Canucks three games to one in the first round of the playoffs. The series opened with two games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York, as the Sabres easily defeated the Black Hawks 5-0 in the series opener, limiting Chicago to only one shot in the first period, and 17 overall. In the second game, the Sabres took an early 2-0 lead in the first period, however, two straight goals by Tom Lysiak tied the game early in the second period. The Sabres then struck for three straight goals before Chicago could answer with one of their own to take a 5-3 lead into the third period. The Black Hawks cut the Sabres lead to 5-4 when Darryl Sutter scored early in the third, however, the Sabres shut down the Hawks, and won the game 6-4 to take a 2-0 series lead. The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next two games, and in the third game, the Sabres once again scored two early goals in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Darryl Sutter cut the Sabres lead in half in the second period, as the Hawks made the score 2-1, however, Sabres goaltender Don Edwards made 38 saves, as Buffalo held on for a 2-1 victory, and taking a 3-0 series lead. In the fourth game, the Black Hawks took their first lead in the series when Bob Murray scored midway through the first period to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Tom Lysiak made it 2-0 Chicago in the second period, however, the Sabres John Van Boxmeer cut the Hawks lead to 2-1 with a goal late in the second period. Buffalo completed the comeback with two unanswered goals in the third period, one by Rick Martin and one by Gilbert Perreault, as the Sabres won the game 3-2, and swept the series.

Schedule and results
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 10, 19794–2Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)1–0–0
2LOctober 13, 19791–5@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)1–1–0
3TOctober 14, 19793–3Hartford Whalers (1979–80)1–1–1
4WOctober 17, 19793–2Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)2–1–1
5TOctober 20, 19792–2@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)2–1–2
6LOctober 21, 19790–3Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)2–2–2
7WOctober 24, 19794–0Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)3–2–2
8LOctober 27, 19794–6@ New York Islanders (1979–80)3–3–2
9LOctober 28, 19791–4Boston Bruins (1979–80)3–4–2
10TOctober 31, 19790–0Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)3–4–3
11LNovember 3, 19790–2@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)3–5–3
12LNovember 4, 19793–5Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)3–6–3
13TNovember 8, 19793–3@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)3–6–4
14WNovember 9, 19794–2@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)4–6–4
15TNovember 11, 19795–5Hartford Whalers (1979–80)4–6–5
16LNovember 14, 19792–5Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)4–7–5
17WNovember 17, 19794–1@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)5–7–5
18TNovember 18, 19793–3Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)5–7–6
19WNovember 21, 19794–0Washington Capitals (1979–80)6–7–6
20WNovember 24, 19792–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)7–7–6
21WNovember 25, 19796–3St. Louis Blues (1979–80)8–7–6
22LNovember 28, 19792–4@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)8–8–6
23TNovember 30, 19791–1@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)8–8–7
24LDecember 1, 19790–7@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)8–9–7
25TDecember 5, 19793–3@ New York Rangers (1979–80)8–9–8
26TDecember 8, 19793–3@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)8–9–9
27TDecember 9, 19794–4@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)8–9–10
28LDecember 12, 19792–5New York Rangers (1979–80)8–10–10
29LDecember 13, 19792–5@ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)8–11–10
30WDecember 15, 19792–1@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)9–11–10
31WDecember 16, 19797–3Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)10–11–10
32TDecember 19, 19790–0Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)10–11–11
33LDecember 21, 19791–4@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)10–12–11
34WDecember 23, 19798–0New York Islanders (1979–80)11–12–11
35TDecember 26, 19793–3@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)11–12–12
36LDecember 28, 19792–6@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)11–13–12
37WDecember 30, 19795–3Boston Bruins (1979–80)12–13–12
38WJanuary 2, 19805–2Colorado Rockies (1979–80)13–13–12
39WJanuary 5, 19804–3@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)14–13–12
40WJanuary 6, 19803–1Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)15–13–12
41LJanuary 9, 19801–6Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)15–14–12
42WJanuary 12, 19803–2@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)16–14–12
43WJanuary 13, 19803–2Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)17–14–12
44LJanuary 16, 19801–6Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)17–15–12
45LJanuary 17, 19801–5@ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)17–16–12
46LJanuary 19, 19803–5@ Hartford Whalers (1979–80)17–17–12
47WJanuary 20, 19802–1@ New York Rangers (1979–80)18–17–12
48LJanuary 23, 19801–4Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)18–18–12
49TJanuary 25, 19804–4@ Atlanta Flames (1979–80)18–18–13
50WJanuary 27, 19803–0Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)19–18–13
51WJanuary 30, 19805–2Washington Capitals (1979–80)20–18–13
52WFebruary 2, 19805–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)21–18–13
53WFebruary 3, 19804–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)22–18–13
54TFebruary 6, 19803–3@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)22–18–14
55LFebruary 9, 19802–5@ Boston Bruins (1979–80)22–19–14
56WFebruary 10, 19803–2Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80)23–19–14
57WFebruary 13, 19803–1New York Rangers (1979–80)24–19–14
58WFebruary 17, 19803–2Atlanta Flames (1979–80)25–19–14
59WFebruary 20, 19804–2Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80)26–19–14
60LFebruary 23, 19802–6@ Washington Capitals (1979–80)26–20–14
61WFebruary 24, 19803–1Buffalo Sabres (1979–80)27–20–14
62LFebruary 27, 19802–5Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)27–21–14
63WMarch 1, 19804–1@ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80)28–21–14
64WMarch 2, 19803–2@ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)29–21–14
65TMarch 5, 19803–3@ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80)29–21–15
66WMarch 7, 19804–2@ Colorado Rockies (1979–80)30–21–15
67TMarch 8, 19803–3@ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80)30–21–16
68TMarch 12, 19806–6Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80)30–21–17
69LMarch 14, 19804–6@ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80)30–22–17
70LMarch 16, 19801–6New York Islanders (1979–80)30–23–17
71WMarch 19, 19805–2Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)31–23–17
72TMarch 22, 19804–4@ New York Islanders (1979–80)31–23–18
73WMarch 23, 19804–2Atlanta Flames (1979–80)32–23–18
74LMarch 25, 19804–8@ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80)32–24–18
75WMarch 26, 19807–2@ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80)33–24–18
76TMarch 30, 19802–2Colorado Rockies (1979–80)33–24–19
77LApril 1, 19802–5@ St. Louis Blues (1979–80)33–25–19
78LApril 2, 19802–5Winnipeg Jets (1979–80)33–26–19
79WApril 5, 19803–1@ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80)34–26–19
80LApril 6, 19804–5St. Louis Blues (1979–80)34–27–19

[2]

Chicago Black Hawks 3, St. Louis Blues 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 8St. Louis Blues2–3Chicago Black Hawks1-0
2April 9St. Louis Blues1–5Chicago Black Hawks2-0
3April 11Chicago Black Hawks4–1St. Louis Blues3-0

Buffalo Sabres 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 16Chicago Black Hawks0–5Buffalo Sabres0-1
2April 17Chicago Black Hawks4–6Buffalo Sabres0-2
3April 19Buffalo Sabres2–1Chicago Black Hawks0-3
4April 20Buffalo Sabres3–2Chicago Black Hawks0-4

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Terry RuskowskiC741555702527613
Tom LysiakC7726436931-71007
Grant MulveyRW8039266512231407
Rich PrestonRW8031306170161225
Doug WilsonD7312496170-5311
Bob MurrayD7416345060-16801
Ted BulleyLW66141731136-12101
Mike O'ConnellD788223052-2202
Tim HigginsRW7413122550-15200
Ron SedlbauerLW45131023141100
J.P. BordeleauRW4571421283100
John MarksLW746152151-16101
Keith BrownD7621820277002
Reg KerrLW49981717-10110
Alain DaigleRW66791622-6010
Tim TrimperLW306101610-7201
Greg FoxD714111573-13001
Doug LecuyerLW533101359-7001
Cliff KorollRW473476-10000
Stan MikitaC/RW17257122000
Dave LoganD12235345001
Dave HutchisonD38055730000
Pat RibbleD2312314-8000
Darryl SutterLW820221000
Rick PatersonC1102200000
Tony EspositoG6901120000
Keith MagnusonD300040000
Harold PhillipoffLW900020-3000
Mike VeisorG1100000000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Tony Esposito4140693122162052.976
Mike Veisor66011353373.360
Team:4800803427192423.026

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Doug WilsonD728106000
Tom LysiakC74480400
Bob MurrayD72466000
Ted BulleyLW723510000
Doug LecuyerLW740415001
Darryl SutterLW73142201
Tim HigginsRW703310000
Rich PrestonRW70332000
Grant MulveyRW71128000
Ron SedlbauerLW71126101
Mike O'ConnellD70110000
J.P. BordeleauRW10000000
Keith BrownD60004000
Alain DaigleRW20000000
Tony EspositoG60000000
Greg FoxD70008000
Dave HutchisonD600012000
Cliff KorollRW20002000
John MarksLW40000000
Rick PatersonC70005000
Terry RuskowskiC400022000
Tim TrimperLW10002000
Mike VeisorG10000000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Tony Esposito373633142.250
Mike Veisor6010166.000
Team:433734202.770

[3]

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;

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
17Keith Brown CanadaPortland Winter Hawks (WHL)
228Tim Trimper CanadaPeterborough Petes (OMJHL)
349Bill Gardner CanadaPeterborough Petes (OMJHL)
470Louis Begin CanadaSherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
591Lowell Loveday CanadaKingston Canadians (OMJHL)
6112Doug Crossman CanadaOttawa 67's (OMJHL)

See also

References
  1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. "1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  3. "1979-80 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
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