1971–72 Chicago Black Hawks season explained

The 1971–72 Chicago Black Hawks season was the club's 46th season in the National Hockey League, and their second consecutive first-place finish in the NHL West, with 46 victories and 107 points. In the 1972 playoffs, the Black Hawks swept the Pittsburgh Penguins in the quarter-finals before being swept by the New York Rangers in the semi-finals.

Regular season

Chicago had an excellent start to the season, winning their opening five games, and never let up throughout the season, as they had an unbeaten streak of ten games in December to take control of the West Division. The Black Hawks finish the season with a twelve-game unbeaten streak to win their third straight divisional title, with a record of 46–17–15, tying the club record with 107 points that was set during the 1970–71 season. The Black Hawks finished 21 points ahead of the second place Minnesota North Stars.^[1]

Offensively, the Black Hawks were led by Bobby Hull, who scored a team high 50 goals and 93 points, which placed him seventh in league scoring. Hull also led the club with a +54 rating. Pit Martin led the club with 51 assists, and finished second in team scoring with 75 points. Dennis Hull had 30 goals and 69 points, while Stan Mikita was just behind him with 26 goals and 65 points. On defense, Pat Stapleton led the club with 41 points, while Bill White and Doug Jarrett each had 29 points. Keith Magnuson led the team in penalty minutes, as he accumulated 201.

In goal, Tony Esposito led the club with 31 victories and a 1.77 goals against average, along with nine shutouts while appearing in 48 games.^[2] Backup goaltender Gary Smith won 14 games with a 2.42 goals against average and five shutouts.^[3] They helped the team have a league low 166 goals against, and were awarded the Vezina Trophy for their efforts.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 9	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		1–0–0	2
2	October 10		1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0–0	4
3	October 13		0–1	Chicago Black Hawks	3–0–0	6
4	October 16	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2		4–0–0	8
5	October 17		0–4	Chicago Black Hawks	5–0–0	10
6	October 20	Chicago Black Hawks	1–3		5–1–0	10
7	October 21	Chicago Black Hawks	5–2		6–1–0	12
8	October 23	Chicago Black Hawks	5–2		7–1–0	14
9	October 24	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2		7–2–0	14
10	October 26	Chicago Black Hawks	5–2		8–2–0	16
11	October 30	Chicago Black Hawks	5–1		9–2–0	18
12	October 31	Chicago Black Hawks	2–6		9–3–0	18
13	November 3		0–3	Chicago Black Hawks	10–3–0	20
14	November 6	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2		10–4–0	20
15	November 7		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	11–4–0	22
16	November 10		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	12–4–0	24
17	November 14		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	13–4–0	26
18	November 17		0–3	Chicago Black Hawks	14–4–0	28
19	November 20	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2		14–5–0	28
20	November 21		3–7	Chicago Black Hawks	15–5–0	30
21	November 24		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	15–5–1	31
22	November 27	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3		15–5–2	32
23	November 28		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	16–5–2	34
24	November 30	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4		16–6–2	34
25	December 3	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2		16–7–2	34
26	December 5		0–7	Chicago Black Hawks	17–7–2	36
27	December 8		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	17–7–3	37
28	December 9	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		18–7–3	39
29	December 11	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		19–7–3	41
30	December 12		3–5	Chicago Black Hawks	20–7–3	43
31	December 15		1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	21–7–3	45
32	December 18	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1		22–7–3	47
33	December 19		0–2	Chicago Black Hawks	23–7–3	49
34	December 22	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1		24–7–3	51
35	December 26		3–6	Chicago Black Hawks	25–7–3	53
36	December 29		5–1	Chicago Black Hawks	25–8–3	53
37	January 2		2–6	Chicago Black Hawks	26–8–3	55
38	January 5		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	26–8–4	56
39	January 8	Chicago Black Hawks	4–0		27–8–4	58
40	January 9		2–5	Chicago Black Hawks	28–8–4	60
41	January 12	Chicago Black Hawks	5–5		28–8–5	61
42	January 15	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4		28–9–5	61
43	January 16		2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	29–9–5	63
44	January 19		0–2	Chicago Black Hawks	30–9–5	65
45	January 20	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3		30–10–5	65
46	January 23		0–4	Chicago Black Hawks	31–10–5	67
47	January 27		0–4	Chicago Black Hawks	32–10–5	69
48	January 29	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		33–10–5	71
49	January 30		2–4	Chicago Black Hawks	34–10–5	73
50	February 1	Chicago Black Hawks	4–7		34–11–5	73
51	February 4	Chicago Black Hawks	6–2		35–11–5	75
52	February 6		0–5	Chicago Black Hawks	36–11–5	77
53	February 9	Chicago Black Hawks	1–4		36–12–5	77
54	February 10	Chicago Black Hawks	1–7		36–13–5	77
55	February 12	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3		36–13–6	78
56	February 13		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	37–13–6	80
57	February 15	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2		38–13–6	82
58	February 16		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	38–13–7	83
59	February 20		3–1	Chicago Black Hawks	38–14–7	83
60	February 23		2–1	Chicago Black Hawks	38–15–7	83
61	February 24	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5		38–16–7	83
62	February 26		0–3	Chicago Black Hawks	39–16–7	85
63	February 27		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	39–16–8	86
64	March 1	Chicago Black Hawks	6–4		40–16–8	88
65	March 3	Chicago Black Hawks	4–4		40–16–9	89
66	March 5	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2		40–17–9	89
67	March 8	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3		40–17–10	90
68	March 11	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1		40–17–11	91
69	March 12	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2		41–17–11	93
70	March 15		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	42–17–11	95
71	March 18	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2		42–17–12	96
72	March 19		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	42–17–13	97
73	March 23	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		43–17–13	99
74	March 25	Chicago Black Hawks	5–5		43–17–14	100
75	March 26		0–4	Chicago Black Hawks	44–17–14	102
76	March 29		5–5	Chicago Black Hawks	44–17–15	103
77	April 1	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0		45–17–15	105
78	April 2		1–6	Chicago Black Hawks	46–17–15	107

Playoffs

The Hawks opened the playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who finished fourth in the West Division with a record of 26–38–14, earning 66 points. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and the Black Hawks, who had a record of 28–3–8 at home, continued their dominance, as they defeated the Penguins 3–1 and 3–2 to take a 2–0 series lead. The series moved to the Pittsburgh Civic Arena for the next two games, however, it was the Black Hawks who continued to stay hot, as they shutout the Penguins 2–0 in the third game, and finished off the series sweep with a 6–5 overtime win in the fourth game.

Chicago's next opponent was the New York Rangers for the second straight year, who had finished the season with a 48–17–13 record, earning 109 points, and a second-place finish in the East Division. The Rangers defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens in their first playoff series. Since the Black Hawks won their division, they were given a home-ice advantage in the series for the second straight year. The series opened up with two games at Chicago Stadium, however, it was the Rangers who struck first, defeating the Hawks 3–2, then taking the second game in Chicago by a score of 5–3 to take an early 2–0 series lead. Chicago did not get themselves back in the series, as New York won the third game 3–2, and the Rangers completed the sweep of the Black Hawks with a 6–2 thumping in the fourth game.

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 0

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 5		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	1–0
2	April 6		2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0
3	April 8	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0		3–0
4	April 9	Chicago Black Hawks	6–5		4–0

New York Rangers 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 16		3–2	Chicago Black Hawks	0–1
2	April 18		5–3	Chicago Black Hawks	0–2
3	April 20	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3		0–3
4	April 23	Chicago Black Hawks	2–6		0–4

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	78	50	43	93	24
	78	24	51	75	56
	78	30	39	69	10
	74	26	39	65	46
	64	27	21	48	38

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
	48	2780	31	10	6	82	9	1.77
	28	1540	14	5	6	62	5	2.42
	6	360	1	2	3	21	0	3.50

Playoffs

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	8	3	6	9	0
	8	4	4	8	6
	8	2	5	7	4
	8	4	2	6	4
	8	4	2	6	4

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
	2	120	1	1	3	1	1.50
	5	300	2	3	16	0	3.20
	1	60	1	0	5	0	5.00

Transactions

September 9, 1971	To California Golden Seals ----Kerry Bond Gerry Desjardins Gerry Pinder	To Chicago Black Hawks----Gary Smith
October 18, 1971	To California Golden Seals ----Gilles Meloche Paul Shmyr	To Chicago Black Hawks----Gerry Desjardins

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	12			Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
2	26			Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
3	40	Bob Peppler		St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
4	54	Clyde Simon		St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA)
5	68			University of Minnesota (NCAA)
6	80	Jim Johnston		University of Wisconsin (NCAA)

See also

• 1971–72 NHL season

Sources

• Hockey-Reference
• Rauzulu's Street
• Goalies Archive
• HockeyDB
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

Notes and References

1. http://hockey-reference.com/teams/CBH/1972_games.html 1971–72 Chicago Black Hawks Games – Hockey-Reference.com
2. Web site: Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history: Tony Esposito . 2008-06-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080217053311/http://www.goaliesarchive.com/hawks/indexesposito.html . 2008-02-17 . dead .
3. Web site: Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history: Gary Smith . 2008-06-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080828025029/http://www.goaliesarchive.com/hawks/indexsmith.html . 2008-08-28 . dead .