1973–74 Chicago Black Hawks season explained

The 1973–74 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 48th season in the NHL, and the club was coming off their fourth consecutive first-place finish in 1972–73, as they finished on top of the West Division with a 42–27–9 record, earning 93 points. The Black Hawks defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL quarter-finals, but lost to the Boston Bruins in the semi-finals.^[1]

Chicago started the season slowly, as they had a 2–4–4 record in their first ten games; however, the club then went on a nine-game unbeaten streak to push themselves over the .500 mark. The Hawks battled with the Philadelphia Flyers all season long for the top spot in the West Division, as Chicago finished with a record of 41–14–23, earning 105 points, which was their third-highest total in club history. It was not enough though, as the Flyers dethroned the Black Hawks for top spot in the West, as they finished with 112 points thus ending Chicago's streak of four consecutive division titles. The 14 losses by Chicago was the fewest by the team in one season, while the 23 ties they recorded was a new team record.^[2]

Offensively, the Black Hawks were led by Stan Mikita, who had a club-high 50 assists and 80 points, while Jim Pappin led the team in goals for the second consecutive season, as he scored 32 goals, and finished with 73 points. Pit Martin scored 30 goals and 77 points, while Dennis Hull had 29 goals and 68 points. On defense, Dick Redmond emerged as the offensive leader, scoring 17 goals and 59 points, while Bill White recorded 36 points, while having a team-high +51 rating. Phil Russell had 10 goals and 35 points, while having a team-high 184 penalty minutes.

In goal, Tony Esposito led the club with 34 victories and a 2.04 GAA, along with ten shutouts while appearing in 70 games.^[3] Rookie goaltender Mike Veisor backed up Esposito, going 7–0–2 with a 2.23 GAA in 10 games.^[4] Chicago tied the Philadelphia Flyers with the fewest goals against in the league at 164, as Tony Esposito and the Flyers Bernie Parent shared the Vezina Trophy for their achievements.

The Hawks opened the playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings, who had a record of 33–33–12, earning 78 points, while placing third in the West Division. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and the Black Hawks used their home ice to their advantage, defeating the Kings 3–1 and 4–1 to take a 2–0 series lead. The series shifted to The Forum in Los Angeles for the next two games, and the Hawks continued to shut down the Kings in the third game, shutting them out 1–0. Los Angeles avoided the sweep by easily handling the Black Hawks 5–1 to send the series back to Chicago. In the fifth game, the Hawks, led by Tony Esposito, shut out Los Angeles by a score of 1–0 to eliminate the Kings from the playoffs.

Chicago's next opponent was the Boston Bruins, who had finished the season with a 52–17–9 record, earning 113 points, and a first-place finish in the East Division. The Bruins swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. The series opened up with two games at the Boston Garden, but it was Chicago who struck first, doubling the Bruins 4–2 in the series opener. Boston responded in the second game, winning 8–6 to even the series. The next two games were played in Chicago, and the Black Hawks re-took the series lead, defeating Boston 4–3 in overtime; however, the Bruins rebounded, winning the fourth game 5–2 to even the series again. The fifth game was back in Boston, and the Bruins took their first series lead, dominating Chicago by a score of 6–2. Boston clinched the series in the sixth game, winning 4–2 on Chicago ice to eliminate the Black Hawks from the post-season.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 10	Chicago Black Hawks	3–0		1–0–0	2
2	October 12	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3		1–1–0	2
3	October 14		1–1	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1–1	3
4	October 17		0–5	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1–1	5
5	October 21		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1–2	6
6	October 24	Chicago Black Hawks	1–3		2–2–2	6
7	October 27	Chicago Black Hawks	4–4		2–2–3	7
8	October 28		1–1	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2–4	8
9	November 1	Chicago Black Hawks	0–1		2–3–4	8
10	November 3	Chicago Black Hawks	4–5		2–4–4	8
11	November 4		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	3–4–4	10
12	November 7	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1		3–4–5	11
13	November 9	Chicago Black Hawks	4–0		4–4–5	13
14	November 11	Chicago Black Hawks	3–0		5–4–5	15
15	November 14	Chicago Black Hawks	4–4		5–4–6	16
16	November 16	Chicago Black Hawks	6–1		6–4–6	18
17	November 17	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1		7–4–6	20
18	November 21		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	8–4–6	22
19	November 24	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		9–4–6	24
20	November 25		6–4	Chicago Black Hawks	9–5–6	24
21	November 28		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	9–5–7	25
22	December 1	Chicago Black Hawks	5–0		10–5–7	27
23	December 2		1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	11–5–7	29
24	December 5	Chicago Black Hawks	8–2		12–5–7	31
25	December 9		3–5	Chicago Black Hawks	13–5–7	33
26	December 12		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	13–5–8	34
27	December 15	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3		13–5–9	35
28	December 16	Chicago Black Hawks	6–1		14–5–9	37
29	December 19		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	14–5–10	38
30	December 22	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4		14–6–10	38
31	December 23		2–6	Chicago Black Hawks	15–6–10	40
32	December 26		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	15–6–11	41
33	December 29	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		16–6–11	43
34	December 30		4–3	Chicago Black Hawks	16–7–11	43
35	January 2		1–5	Chicago Black Hawks	17–7–11	45
36	January 3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3		17–8–11	45
37	January 6		4–9	Chicago Black Hawks	18–8–11	47
38	January 9		4–4	Chicago Black Hawks	18–8–12	48
39	January 10	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2		18–8–13	49
40	January 13		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	19–8–13	51
41	January 16		5–5	Chicago Black Hawks	19–8–14	52
42	January 19		3–2	Chicago Black Hawks	19–9–14	52
43	January 20		2–7	Chicago Black Hawks	20–9–14	54
44	January 24	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1		21–9–14	56
45	January 26	Chicago Black Hawks	1–4		21–10–14	56
46	January 27		4–2	Chicago Black Hawks	21–11–14	56
47	January 31		1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	22–11–14	58
48	February 2	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		23–11–14	60
49	February 3		0–3	Chicago Black Hawks	24–11–14	62
50	February 6		1–1	Chicago Black Hawks	24–11–15	63
51	February 8	Chicago Black Hawks	3–0		25–11–15	65
52	February 10		3–5	Chicago Black Hawks	26–11–15	67
53	February 13		0–4	Chicago Black Hawks	27–11–15	69
54	February 16	Chicago Black Hawks	4–0		28–11–15	71
55	February 17		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	29–11–15	73
56	February 20		0–3	Chicago Black Hawks	30–11–15	75
57	February 23		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	31–11–15	77
58	February 24		4–2	Chicago Black Hawks	31–12–15	77
59	February 27	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		32–12–15	79
60	February 28	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2		32–12–16	80
61	March 3	Chicago Black Hawks	6–6		32–12–17	81
62	March 6	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3		32–12–18	82
63	March 7	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3		32–13–18	82
64	March 9	Chicago Black Hawks	4–4		32–13–19	83
65	March 13		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	32–13–20	84
66	March 14	Chicago Black Hawks	5–2		33–13–20	86
67	March 16	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		34–13–20	88
68	March 17		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	34–13–21	89
69	March 20		3–2	Chicago Black Hawks	34–14–21	89
70	March 23	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1		35–14–21	91
71	March 24		0–6	Chicago Black Hawks	36–14–21	93
72	March 27	Chicago Black Hawks	5–3		37–14–21	95
73	March 28	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2		37–14–22	96
74	March 30	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1		38–14–22	98
75	March 31		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	38–14–23	99
76	April 3		2–6	Chicago Black Hawks	39–14–23	101
77	April 6	Chicago Black Hawks	6–3		40–14–23	103
78	April 7		4–7	Chicago Black Hawks	41–14–23	105

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Los Angeles Kings 1

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 10		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	1–0
2	April 11		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	2–0
3	April 13	Chicago Black Hawks	1–0		3–0
4	April 14	Chicago Black Hawks	1–5		3–1
5	April 16		0–1	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1

Boston Bruins 4, Chicago Black Hawks 2

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 18	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		1–0
2	April 21	Chicago Black Hawks	6–8		1–1
3	April 23		3–4	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1
4	April 25		5–2	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2
5	April 28	Chicago Black Hawks	2–6		2–3
6	April 30		4–2	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	76	30	50	80	46
	78	30	47	77	43
	78	32	41	73	76
	74	29	39	68	15
	76	17	42	59	69

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
	70	4143	34	14	21	141	10	2.04
	10	537	7	0	2	20	1	2.23

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
	11	5	6	11	8
	10	6	3	9	0
	11	3	6	9	29
	11	1	7	8	14
	11	1	7	8	8

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
	10	584	6	4	28	2	2.88
	2	65	0	1	5	0	3.75

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	13			Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)
2	29			London Knights (OHA)
3	45			Sudbury Wolves (OHA)
4	61	Dave Elliot		Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)
5	77			Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHA)
6	93	Gary Doerksen		Winnipeg Jets (WCHL)
7	109	Wayne Dye		New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
8	125			Hamilton Red Wings (OHA)
9	140	Jack Johnson		University of Wisconsin (NCAA)
9	141			University of Wisconsin (NCAA)
10	156	Rick Clubbe		University of North Dakota (NCAA)
11	165	Gene Strate		Edmonton Oil Kings (WCHL)

Sources

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

Notes and References

1. http://hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1974.html 1973–74 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com
2. http://hockey-reference.com/teams/CBH/1974_games.html 1973–74 Chicago Black Hawks Games – Hockey-Reference.com
3. Web site: Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Tony Esposito . 2008-07-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080217053311/http://www.goaliesarchive.com/hawks/indexesposito.html . 2008-02-17 . dead .
4. Web site: Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Mike Veisor . 2008-07-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080512093105/http://www.goaliesarchive.com/hawks/indexveisor.html . 2008-05-12 . dead .