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37-38ChiBH
1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks
Division 3rd American
1937–38 record 14–25–9
Home record 10–10–4
Road record 4–15–5
Goals for 97
Goals against 139
Team information
General manager Frederic McLaughlin
Coach Bill Stewart
Captain Johnny Gottselig
Arena Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals Paul Thompson (22)
Assists Paul Thompson
Doc Romnes (22)
Points Paul Thompson (44)
Penalty minutes Earl Siebert (38)
Wins Mike Karakas (14)
Goals against average Mike Karakas (2.80)

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[]

1937 Hawks logo

Black Hawks logo from 1937-41.

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.

1938-Feb1-Levinsky-Karakas-Watson-Dahlstrom

Phil Watson scores on Mike Karakas while #8 Alex Levinsky and #15 Cully Dahlstrom look on, February 1, 1938.

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.

Final Standings[]

American Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Boston Bruins 48 30 11 7 142 89 67
New York Rangers 48 27 15 6 149 96 60
Chicago Black Hawks 48 14 25 9 97 139 37
Detroit Red Wings 48 12 25 11 99 133 35

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against

Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.


Game Log[]

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 November 4 New York Americans 3–0 Chicago Black Hawks 0–1–0 0
2 November 9 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 Montreal Canadiens 0–1–1 1
3 November 11 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 New York Rangers 1–1–1 3
4 November 13 Chicago Black Hawks 3–7 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2–1 3
5 November 14 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2–2 4
6 November 18 Detroit Red Wings 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2–2 6
7 November 21 Boston Bruins 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3–2 6
8 November 25 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Detroit Red Wings 2–4–2 6
9 November 27 Chicago Black Hawks 0–4 New York Americans 2–5–2 6
10 November 30 Chicago Black Hawks 0–1 Montreal Maroons 2–6–2 6
11 December 2 New York Rangers 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 3–6–2 8
12 December 5 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 3–7–2 8
13 December 12 Montreal Maroons 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 4–7–2 10
14 December 16 Detroit Red Wings 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 5–7–2 12
15 December 19 New York Americans 1–0 Chicago Black Hawks 5–8–2 12
16 December 21 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2 Boston Bruins 5–9–2 12
17 December 26 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 New York Rangers 6–9–2 14
18 December 30 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 Detroit Red Wings 6–9–3 15
19 January 2 Montreal Canadiens 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks 6–10–3 15
20 January 6 New York Rangers 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks 6–11–3 15
21 January 9 Montreal Maroons 0–1 Chicago Black Hawks 7–11–3 17
22 January 11 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1 New York Americans 7–11–4 18
23 January 13 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 Montreal Canadiens 7–11–5 19
24 January 15 Chicago Black Hawks 4–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–11–6 20
25 January 16 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–2 Chicago Black Hawks 7–12–6 20
26 January 18 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Boston Bruins 7–13–6 20
27 January 20 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 Detroit Red Wings 7–14–6 20
28 January 23 Boston Bruins 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 8–14–6 22
29 January 27 Detroit Red Wings 3–4 Chicago Black Hawks 9–14–6 24
30 January 30 New York Rangers 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 9–14–7 25
31 February 1 Chicago Black Hawks 1–6 New York Rangers 9–15–7 25
32 February 3 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 Montreal Maroons 9–16–7 25
33 February 6 Boston Bruins 7–2 Chicago Black Hawks 9–17–7 25
34 February 8 Chicago Black Hawks 1–3 Boston Bruins 9–18–7 25
35 February 10 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2 Montreal Maroons 9–19–7 25
36 February 12 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–19–7 27
37 February 13 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 10–19–8 28
38 February 17 New York Americans 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks 10–19–9 29
39 February 20 Detroit Red Wings 1–0 Chicago Black Hawks 10–20–9 29
40 February 22 Chicago Black Hawks 6–5 Montreal Maroons 11–20–9 31
41 February 24 Chicago Black Hawks 3–6 New York Rangers 11–21–9 31
42 February 27 New York Rangers 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks 11–22–9 31
43 March 3 Boston Bruins 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 12–22–9 33
44 March 6 Montreal Maroons 1–7 Chicago Black Hawks 13–22–9 35
45 March 10 Montreal Canadiens 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks 14–22–9 37
46 March 13 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Detroit Red Wings 14–23–9 37
47 March 15 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2 New York Americans 14–24–9 37
48 March 20 Chicago Black Hawks 1–6 Boston Bruins 14–25–9 37

Playoffs[]

22Mar1938-Habs Hawks

Mike Karakas makes a save, 1938 Quarter-finals Game 1, March 22, 1938.

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 2, Montreal Canadiens 1[]

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 22 Chicago Black Hawks 4–6 Montreal Canadiens 0–1
2 March 24 Montreal Canadiens 0–4 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1
3 March 26 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 (OT) Montreal Canadiens 2–1

Chicago Black Hawks 2, New York Americans 1[]

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 29 Chicago Black Hawks 1–3 New York Americans 0–1
2 March 31 New York Americans 0–1 (2OT) Chicago Black Hawks 1–1
3 April 3 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 New York Americans 2–1

Chicago Black Hawks 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 1[]

1938-Apr5-Seibert-Moore

Earl Seibert, Gordie Drillon, Alfie Moore, Game 1 of the 1938 Stanley Cup Finals, April 5, 1938.

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.

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 5 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0
2 April 7 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–1
3 April 10 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1
4 April 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1

Player Stats[]

Scoring Leaders[]

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Paul Thompson 48 22 22 44 14
Johnny Gottselig 48 13 19 32 22
Doc Romnes 44 10 22 32 4
Mush March 42 11 17 28 16
Louis Trudel 42 6 16 22 15

Goaltending[]

Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA
Mike Karakas 48 2980 14 25 9 139 1 2.80

Playoff Stats[]

Scoring Leaders[]

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Johnny Gottselig 10 5 3 8 4
Earl Siebert 10 5 2 7 12
Paul Thompson 10 4 3 7 6
Mush March 9 2 4 6 0
Doc Romnes 10 2 4 6 2

Goaltending[]

Player GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Alfie Moore 1 60 1 0 1 0 1.00
Mike Karakas 8 525 6 2 15 2 1.71
Paul Goodman 1 60 0 1 5 0 5.00

Awards and Records[]

Gallery[]

See Also[]

References[]

Chicago Blackhawks Seasons
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