1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks season



The 1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 12th season in the NHL. In the off-season, the team replaced coach Clem Loughlin with Bill Stewart. The Black Hawks defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals 3 games to 1 to win their second Stanley Cup.

Regular Season
After adding colour to the primary logo for the 1935-36 season, the background in the center of the roundel was changed from black to white. This logo was used for the next three seasons.

The Black Hawks would struggle again in 1937–38, finishing with 37 points with a 14–25–9 record, but managed to earn a playoff spot by finishing 2 points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and clinch 3rd place in the American Division. They would score an NHL low 97 goals, while giving up the 2nd most goals in the league at 139. The Hawks were a .500 team at home with a 10–10–4 record, but would only have a record of 4–15–5 on the road.

Paul Thompson led the Hawks offensively, setting a club record with 44 points, along with a club high 22 goals, and tying Doc Romnes for the team lead with 22 assists. Johnny Gottselig had another solid season, earning 32 points, tying Romnes for 2nd on the team scoring list. Earl Siebert would lead the defense with 21 points, and had a club high 38 penalty minutes.

In goal, Mike Karakas won 14 games, earn a shutout and post a 2.80 GAA.

Playoffs
In the playoffs, the Black Hawks would face the Montreal Canadiens in the 1st round in a best of 3 series, and the underdog Hawks would surprise Montreal, winning the series in 3 games, clinching the series with a 3–2 OT victory at the Montreal Forum on a goal by Paul Thompson. Next up would be the New York Americans, who finished 2nd in the Canadian Division, and had 12 more points than the Hawks in the regular season, in a best of 3 series. After dropping the opening game, the Black Hawks won Game 2 by 1-0 in double overtime on a goal by Cully Dahlstrom and took the series by winning Game 3 by 3-1 to advance to the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals.

Chicago Black Hawks 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 1
The Black Hawks opponent would be the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had just swept the best team in the regular season, the Boston Bruins, in a best of 5 series.

Due to a broken toe suffered by goaltender Mike Karakas in the Semi-finals, the Black Hawks got permission from the Maple Leafs to use goaltender Alfie Moore in Game 1. Moore spent the season with the Maple Leafs farm team the Pittsburgh Hornets of the IAHL. He responded by helping the Black Hawks win the game 3–1.

Moore was declared ineligible by NHL President Frank Calder for Game 2 and as Karakas was still unavailable, Chicago called up Paul Goodman from the Wichita Skyhawks of the AHA. The Maple Leafs would even up the series with a 5–1 victory. The Black Hawks would get Karakas back into the lineup for Game 3 (wearing a steel-toed skate to protect his broken toe), and he helped the Hawks to a 2–1 victory.

Chicago wrapped up the series in Game 4, winning by a score of 4–1 to earn its 2nd Stanley Cup in team history, shocking the hockey world. So improbable was the Black Hawks' victory that NHL President Frank Calder didn't arrange for the Stanley Cup to be sent to Chicago for Game 4, having it remain in Toronto, resulting in no presentation ceremony after Chicago's win.

The Black Hawks set a record with eight Americans on their roster and also set a record for attendance with 18,497 in Game 4. It was the last time that a Chicago team would win a championship at Chicago Stadium until the Chicago Bulls won their second straight NBA championship in 1992.

Awards and Records

 * Calder Memorial Trophy: Cully Dahlstrom
 * Paul Thompson, Left Wing, NHL First Team All-Star
 * Earl Seibert, Defense, NHL Second Team All-Star