1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks season



The 1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 44th season in the NHL. The Hawks finished 1st in the East Division and lost in the Division Finals to the Boston Bruins 4 games to 0.

Off-season
During the off-season, Chicago claimed goaltender Tony Esposito from the Montreal Canadiens in the intra-league draft on June 11, 1969. The Hawks also named Pat Stapleton as their new team captain. The Black Hawks did not have a captain for the 1968-69 season, as the spot was not filled after former captain Pierre Pilote was traded during the 1968 off-season.

Regular Season
The Black Hawks would begin the season very slow, as they lost their opening five games to quickly fall into the East Division cellar. Chicago would then rebound, and after 35 games, the Hawks had a 15-15-5 record.

The December 10, 1969 game versus the Minnesota North Stars was a wild one with a combined 90 shots on net. With the score tied 5-5 heading into the third period, Bill Goldsworthy scored the game winner by knocking a rebound off Tony Esposito out of the air and in. He then added another 11 seconds later and Claude Larose scored short handed, a one-timer as Danny Lawson won a face-off in Chicago's zone, for an 8-5 Minnesota victory.

During the December 19, 1969 Hawks-Oakland Seals match, early in the second period with the game scoreless, Carol Vadnais caught Keith Magnuson on the boards with a high hit and after Magnuson fell to the ice, Vadnais began to pummel him. A melee broke out which resulted in minor penalties only. Ten minutes later, Vadnais and Magnuson fought again and both went off for seven minutes. Shortly after, the Hawks scored two quick goals and the third period started with them leading 2-0. At 1:42, Vadnais and Magnuson began to joust again and exhausted, the linemen backed away. The two fought for a third time and both were given game misconducts. The Hawks scored twice more and Gary Smith earned the shutout in the 4-0 victory.

The Black Hawks would then get hot, as they went on a seven game winning streak, and continued to play great hockey for the rest of the season, as Chicago won a franchise record 45 games, earning a club record 99 points, and finished in first place for the second time in franchise history. The Hawks and Boston Bruins both finished the year with 99 points, however, since Chicago won five more games, they were awarded the Prince of Wales Trophy.

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Stan Mikita, who scored a team high 39 goals, 47 assists and 86 points, as he finished third in the NHL scoring race. Bobby Hull had another solid season, scoring 38 goals and 67 points, while Pit Martin had 30 goals and 63 points. Team captain Pat Stapleton led the defense with 42 points, while Keith Magnuson had a club record 213 penalty minutes, along with a club high +38 rating.

In goal, Tony Esposito emerged as one of the top goaltenders in the league, as he won a club record 38 games, while posting a 2.17 GAA and a team record 15 shutouts. Esposito was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy and the Vezina Trophy for his efforts.

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Detroit Red Wings 0
The Hawks opened the playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings in the East Division semi-finals. The Red Wings finished the season with a 40-21-15 record, earning 95 points, which was good for third in the East Division. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and the Black Hawks used home ice to their advantage, as they defeated Detroit by scores of 4-2 in both games to take the early series lead. The series shifted to the Detroit Olympia for the next two games, however, Chicago stayed hot, as they once again won both games by scores of 4-2 to sweep the series and advance to the next playoff round.

Boston Bruins 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0
This was the third meeting in the playoffs for the teams. Chicago was the first team Boston ever met in the post season, in 1927. The Bruins defeated the Hawks then and repeated it in the 1942 Quarter-finals, two games to one. The series featured Boston's Phil Esposito out-dueling his brother, Chicago goalie Tony Esposito. Game 1 at the Chicago Stadium saw the teams trade chances in the first period until, while cutting around a defenseman, Phil Esposito's backhand shot surprised Tony Esposito for a 1-0 Bruins lead. Minutes later on the power play, Bobby Orr took a pass at the point, deked a Chicago defender, drifted to the left boards and passed to Phil Esposito in the slot whose one-timer made it 2-0 Boston. In the second period at 5:11, John Bucyk intercepted a clearing pass by Tony Esposito and fired a goal five-hole to make it 3-0. Three minutes later, Dennis Hull put a rebound past Gerry Cheevers to cut the lead to 3-1. With five minutes left in the period, on the power play, Phil Esposito shovelled in a rebound of an Orr point shot to restore Boston's two goal advantage. Two minutes later, Jim Pappin responded by tipping a Bobby Hull shot past Cheevers. A minute into the third period, John McKenzie tipped a Bucyk shot in for a 5-2 Bruins lead. Ken Hodge scored off a Wayne Carleton rebound and Stan Mikita scored a consolation goal in Boston's 6-3 victory.

Game 2 at Chicago saw Boston play an excellent defensive game, limiting the Black Hawks to 23 shots. Bobby Orr scored the only goal of the first period on a give and go rush with Fred Stanfield. At 10:32 of the second period, a great forecheck by Stanfield led to him one-timing a John Bucyk pass past Tony Esposito for a 2-0 Bruins lead. Don Marcotte, playing on Phil Esposito's line, banged in his first career playoff goal on a cross-crease pass by Ken Hodge to pad Boston's lead. Bill White scored on a rebound early in the third period after which Wayne Carleton and Keith Magnuson had a protracted fight. Phil Esposito stripped Dennis Hull of the puck in the corner of the Hawks zone, moved across the slot and scored for a 4-1 Bruins win and a two games to none series lead.

Game 3 at the Boston Garden was the first game of the series where Chicago had lead as Cliff Koroll opened the scoring at 6:33 of the first period. A little over two minutes later, Wayne Carleton wristed a great pass from Ed Westfall past Tony Esposito to even the score 1-1. Late in the period, Jim Pappin's centering pass from behind the Bruins net was fired in by Pit Martin. The rest of the game belonged to the Bruins. After incredible pressure on the power play, John Bucyk put in a cross crease pass at 3:28 to tie the game 2-2. Several minutes later, Phil Esposito won a face-off in the Hawks zone, resulting Wayne Cashman cutting left to right in front of Tony Esposito and beating him stick side. On the power play, Orr rushed into Chicago's zone, rounded behind the net and drew three Hawk defenders to him in the corner. His pass to Phil Esposito was relayed to John Bucyk who smacked it into the open net. In the third period, both goalies made great saves, preventing any scoring. Phil Esposito stripped Pit Martin of the puck and scored an empty net goal in the last minute for a 5-2 Boston victory and a stranglehold on the series.

Game 4 at Boston was the closest game of the series as Chicago fought to stave off elimination. Tony Esposito was brilliant as the Bruins peppered him with 54 shots. With Derek Sanderson off for hooking, Bobby Orr won a puck battle in the Bruins zone and backhanded a long pass to Phil Esposito on the left wing. His long shot was kicked out by Tony Esposito right to Don Marcotte who scored a shorthanded goal at 13:14 of the first period. John Bucyk made it 2-0 on the power play, scoring off his own rebound which Tony Esposito protested vigorously didn't cross the goal line. In the second period, the Hawks furious forechecking produced results as Keith Magnuson scored his first career playoff goal on a shot from the point. Tony Esposito stopped point blank chances by brother Phil and Derek Sanderson before Cliff Koroll made a nice pass to Dennis Hull, who tied the game 2-2. Dennis Hull made it 3-2 after picking off a pass at the Hawks blueline and potting a shot over Gerry Cheever's glove. Several minutes later, Fred Stanfield raced down the left wing and blasted a low shot in to tie the game 3-3. On the power play in the third period, Bryan Campbell scored at 4:10. Boston turned up the pressure which paid dividends eleven minutes later when Ken Hodge tipped a Phil Esposito shot in to tie it 4-4. With less than two minutes left to play, John McKenzie picked off a clearing pass and after a give and go with Fred Stanfield, fired a high shot stick-side while John Bucyk was screening Tony Esposito. As time ticked down, Tony Esposito made a last save, which he covered up. Phil skated over and mussed his hair before celebrating the Bruins sweep in four games.

Awards and Records

 * Prince of Wales Trophy: Chicago Black Hawks
 * Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy: Pit Martin
 * Calder Memorial Trophy: Tony Esposito
 * Vezina Trophy: Tony Esposito
 * Bobby Hull, Left Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Tony Esposito, Goalie, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Stan Mikita, Center, NHL Second Team All-Star

Draft Picks
Chicago's draft picks at the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Trivia

 * Tony Esposito began the season wearing a dark mask but switched to a white mask, which would become his trademark, sometime between December 10-25, 1969.
 * Black Hawks recorded a hat trick this season include:
 * Stan Mikita during the 9-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 9, 1969.
 * Cliff Koroll during the 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on December 14, 1969.
 * Jim Pappin during the 7-4 win over the Minnesota North Stars on February 1, 1970.
 * Pit Martin during the 10-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on April 5, 1970.