1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 36th season in the NHL, and the club was coming off of a third-place finish in 1960–61, as they finished with a 29–24–17 record, earning 75 points, which was a franchise record, and the first time since 1946 that the Hawks had an over .500 record. Chicago upset the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens in the NHL semi-finals, then defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the 1961 Stanley Cup Finals to win their third Stanley Cup in team history, and the first one since 1938.^[1]

During the off-season, the Black Hawks traded away team captain Ed Litzenberger to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Gerry Melnyk and Brian Smith. Chicago also had some problems signing some of their players, as Stan Mikita, Reg Fleming, and Dollard St. Laurent all refused to sign their contracts, however, they all eventually came to terms. With Litzenberger traded away, the team named defenseman Pierre Pilote as the new captain.

The defending champions started off the season slow, earning only one win in their first eleven games, as they had a record of 1–5–5, however, the team rebounded, and put together a 16–12–8 record in the next 36 games to get to the .500 level. The Black Hawks then got hot, as they then won six games in a row, followed shortly by a four-game winning streak, as the team managed to finish the season with a 31–26–13 record, tying a club record with 75 points, and setting a team record for wins in a season at 31, which was two more than the previous high of 29 set the previous season.^[2]

Offensively, Chicago was led by Bobby Hull, who set a team record with 50 goals and 84 points. He became the third player in NHL history, Maurice Richard and Bernie Geoffrion were the others, to score 50 goals in a season.^[3] Hull's 84 points tied him with Andy Bathgate of the New York Rangers for the league lead, however, since Hull scored more goals, he was awarded the Art Ross Memorial Trophy. Stan Mikita emerged as an offensive force, breaking out with a team high 52 assists and 77 points, while Bill Hay also recorded 52 assists en route to a 63-point season. Pierre Pilote led the Hawks blueline, scoring 7 goals and 42 points, while tying Mikita and Eric Nesterenko for the most penalty minutes on the team, with 97.

In goal, Glenn Hall once again played in all 70 games, setting a team record for wins with 31, and posting a 2.63 GAA, along with 9 shutouts. ^[4]

Chicago would face the Montreal Canadiens in the best of seven NHL semi-final for the fourth consecutive season. The Canadiens were once again heavily favored to defeat the Hawks, as they had an NHL best 98 points, which was 23 more than Chicago. Montreal opened the series off by winning the opening two games at the Montreal Forum by scores of 2–1 and 4–3 to take an early 2–0 series lead, however, as the series shifted over to Chicago Stadium, the Black Hawks took advantage, winning the next two games by scores of 4–1 and 5–3 to even up the series. The fifth game was back in Montreal, however, Chicago stayed hot, and narrowly defeated the Canadiens 4–3 to return home with a 3–2 series lead. The Hawks again took advantage of their home ice, shutting out the Canadiens 2–0, and eliminating Montreal for the second straight season, and earning a spot in the finals.

Chicago would face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1962 Stanley Cup Finals. The Leafs had a strong regular season, earning 85 points, and had defeated the fourth place New York Rangers to clinch a spot in the finals. The series opened at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, and much like their previous series against the Canadiens, the Black Hawks quickly found themselves down 2–0, as Toronto won the first two games by scores of 4–1 and 3–2. The next two games were held in Chicago, and the Black Hawks continued their home ice winning streak, taking the two games by scores of 3–0 and 4–1 to pull even. The clubs were back in Toronto for the fifth game, and it was the Maple Leafs easily beating Chicago 8–4 to take a 3–2 series lead. Toronto ended Chicago's five game home winning streak in the sixth game, holding off Chicago for a 2–1 win, and ending the Hawks chance of a second straight championship.^[5]

Season standings

National Hockey League^[6]
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Montreal Canadiens	70	42	14	14	259	166	+93	98
2	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	37	22	11	232	180	+52	85
3	Chicago Black Hawks	70	31	26	13	217	186	+31	75
4	New York Rangers	70	26	32	12	195	207	−12	64
5	Detroit Red Wings	70	23	33	14	184	219	−35	60
6	Boston Bruins	70	15	47	8	177	306	−129	38

Game log

Regular Season

1961–62 Game Log

October: 1–4–5 (Home: 1–2–1 ; Road: 0–2–4 ) Pts. 7
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Pts
1	T	October 14, 1961	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	3–3	0–0–1	1
2	T	October 15, 1961	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	2–2	0–0–2	2
3	W	October 17, 1961	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	5–3	1–0–2	4
4	L	October 19, 1961	New York Rangers (1961–62)	4–2	1–1–2	4
5	T	October 21, 1961	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	1–1	1–1–3	5
6	L	October 22, 1961	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	2–3	1–2–3	5
7	T	October 25, 1961	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	1–1	1–2–4	6
8	L	October 26, 1961	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	1–7	1–3–4	6
9	T	October 29, 1961	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	2–2	1–3–5	7
10	L	October 31	New York Rangers (1961–62)	2–4	1–4–5	7

November: 5–4–1 (Home: 4–1–1 ; Road: 1–3–0) Pts. 11
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Pts
11	L	November 4, 1961	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	1–2	1–5–5	7
12	W	November 5, 1961	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	4–3	2–5–5	9
13	W	November 7, 1961	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	6–0	3–5–5	11
14	L	November 11, 1961	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	1–2	3–6–5	11
15	L	November 12, 1961	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	1–4	3–7–5	11
16	W	November 15, 1961	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	2–0	4–7–5	13
17	T	November 19, 1961	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	3–3	4–7–6	14
18	L	November 23, 1961	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–5	4–8–6	14
19	W	November 26, 1961	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	4–1	5–8–6	16
20	W	November 29, 1961	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	7–4	6–8–6	18

December: 4–5–5 (Home: 0–2–2 ; Road: 4–3–3) Pts. 13
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Pts
21	L	December 2, 1961	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	4–6	6–9–6	18
22	L	December 3, 1961	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	0–1	6–10–6	18
23	W	December 6, 1961	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	8–3	7–10–6	20
24	W	December 7, 1961	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	5–2	8–10–6	22
25	L	December 9, 1961	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	0–3	8–11–6	22
26	L	December 10, 1961	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	2–3	8–12–6	22
27	T	December 13, 1961	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	2–2	8–12–7	23
28	W	December 17, 1961	New York Rangers (1961–62)	3–1	9–12–7	25
29	W	December 21, 1961	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	4–3	10–12–7	27
30	L	December 23, 1961	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	3–7	10–13–7	27
31	T	December 25, 1961	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	3–3	10–13–8	28
32	T	December 27, 1961	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	0–0	10–13–9	29
33	T	December 28, 1961	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	2–2	10–13–10	30
34	T	December 30, 1961	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	4–4	10–13–11	31

January: 7–4–2 (Home: 6–2–1 ; Road: 1–2–1) Pts. 16
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Pts
35	W	January 1, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	2–0	11–13–11	33
36	W	January 3, 1962	New York Rangers (1961–62)	2–1	12–13–11	35
37	T	January 4, 1962	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	1–1	12–13–12	36
38	L	January 6, 1962	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	3–6	12–14–12	36
39	L	January 7, 1962	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	0–2	12–15–12	36
40	W	January 11, 1962	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	6–0	13–15–12	38
41	W	January 13, 1962	New York Rangers (1961–62)	4–2	14–15–12	40
42	T	January 14, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–2	14–15–13	41
43	L	January 17, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	3–7	14–16–13	41
44	W	January 21, 1962	New York Rangers (1961–62)	3–1	15–16–13	43
45	W	January 24, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–1	16–16–13	45
46	L	January 27, 1962	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	3–5	16–17–13	45
47	W	January 28, 1962	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	3–0		17–17–13	47
48	W	January 31, 1962	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	4–1	18–17–13	49

February: 9–4–0 (Home: 6–1–0 ; Road: 3–3–0) Pts. 18
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Pts
49	W	February 1, 1962	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	7–4	19–17–13	51
50	W	February 3, 1962	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	6–3	20–17–13	53
51	W	February 4, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–1	21–17–13	55
52	W	February 8, 1962	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	6–2	22–17–13	57
53	L	February 10, 1962	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	1–2	22–18–13	57
54	L	February 11, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	3–4	22–19–13	57
55	W	February 14, 1962	New York Rangers (1961–62)	4–3	23–19–13	59
56	L	February 17, 1962	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	2–6	23–20–13	59
57	W	February 18, 1962	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	6–0	24–20–13	61
58	W	February 21, 1962	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	6–4	25–20–13	63
59	W	February 24, 1962	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	6–1	26–20–13	65
60	W	February 25, 1962	Boston Bruins (1961–62)	8–0	27–20–13	67
61	L	February 28, 1962	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–4	27–21–13	67

March: 4–4–0 (Home: 4–0–0 ; Road: 4–2–2) Pts. 8
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Pts
62	W	March 1, 1962	@ Boston Bruins (1961–62)	5–4	28–21–13	69
63	W	March 4, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	5–2	29–21–13	71
64	L	March 11, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–3	29–22–13	71
65	L	March 15, 1962	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	5–6	29–23–13	71
66	W	March 17, 1962	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	3–1	30–23–13	73
67	L	March 18, 1962	@ Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	1–4	30–24–13	73
68	W	March 20, 1962	Detroit Red Wings (1961–62)	3–0	31–24–13	75
69	L	March 24, 1962	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	3–5	31–25–13	75
70	L	March 25, 1962	@ New York Rangers (1961–62)	1–4	31–26–13	75

Playoffs

1962 Stanley Cup Playoffs

1962 Stanley Cup Semifinals vs. Montreal Canadiens – Black Hawks won series 4–2
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Series
1	L	March 27, 1962	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	1–2		0–1
2	L	March 29, 1962	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	3–4		0–2
3	W	April 1, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	4–1		1–2
4	W	April 3, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	5–3		2–2
5	W	April 5, 1962	@ Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	4–3		3–2
6	W	April 8, 1962	Montreal Canadiens (1961–62)	2–0		4–2

1962 Stanley Cup Finals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs – Maple Leafs won series 4–2
#	Result	Date	Opponent	Score	OT	Record
1	L	April 10, 1962	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	1–4		0–1
2	L	April 12, 1962	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	2–3		0–2
3	W	April 15, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	3–0		1–2
4	W	April 17, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	4–1		2–2
5	L	April 19, 1962	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	4–8		2–3
6	L	April 22, 1962	Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62)	1–2		2–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bobby Hull	70	50	34	84	35
Stan Mikita	70	25	52	77	97
Bill Hay	60	11	52	63	34
Bronco Horvath	68	17	29	46	21
Pierre Pilote	59	7	35	42	97

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Glenn Hall	70	4200	31	26	13	184	9	2.63

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Stan Mikita	12	6	15	21	19
Bobby Hull	12	8	6	14	12
Ab McDonald	12	6	6	12	0
Bill Hay	12	3	7	10	18
Kenny Wharram	12	3	4	7	8

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Glenn Hall	12	720	6	6	31	2	2.58

Roster

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
8	Canada !	Balfour, MurrayMurray Balfour	7.0 !RW	R	25	1959	Regina, Saskatchewan
5	United Kingdom !	Evans, JackJack Evans	2.0 !D	L	34	1958	Morriston, United Kingdom
6	Canada !	Fleming, ReggieReggie Fleming	5.1 !W/D	L	26	1960	Montreal, Quebec
1	Canada !	Hall, GlennGlenn Hall	1.0 !G	L	30	1957	Humboldt, Saskatchewan
7	Canada !	Hall, MurrayMurray Hall	7.0 !RW	R	21	1961	Kirkland Lake, Ontario
11	Canada !	Hay, BillBill Hay	4.0 !C	L	26	1959	Lumsden, Saskatchewan
20	Canada !	Hillman, WayneWayne Hillman	2.0 !D	R	23	1961	Kirkland Lake, Ontario
9	Canada !	Horvath, BroncoBronco Horvath	4.0 !C	L	32	1961	Port Colborne, Ontario
7	Canada !	Hull, BobbyBobby Hull	6.0 !LW	L	23	1957	Point Anne, Ontario
18	Canada !	Maki, ChicoChico Maki	7.0 !RW	R	22	1961	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
14	Canada !	McDonald, AbAb McDonald	6.0 !LW	L	26	1960	Winnipeg, Manitoba
12	Canada !	Melnyk, GerryGerry Melnyk	4.0 !C	R	27	1961	Edmonton, Alberta
21	Czechoslovakia !	Mikita, StanStan Mikita	7.0 !RW	R	21	1958	Sokolce, Czechoslovakia
10	Canada !	Murphy, RonRon Murphy	6.0 !LW	L	29	1957	Hamilton, Ontario
15	Canada !	Nesterenko, EricEric Nesterenko	4.0 !C	R	28	1956	Flin Flon, Manitoba
3	Canada !	Pilote, PierrePierre Pilote (C)	2.0 !D	L	30	1955	Kenogami, Quebec
19	Canada !	St. Laurent, DollardDollard St. Laurent	2.0 !D	L	32	1958	Verdun, Quebec
2	Canada !	Turner, BobBob Turner	2.0 !D	L	28	1961	Regina, Saskatchewan
4	Canada !	Vasko, MooseMoose Vasko	2.0 !D	L	26	1956	Duparquet, Quebec
17	Canada !	Wharram, KennyKenny Wharram	7.0 !RW	R	28	1951	North Bay, Ontario

^[7]

References

↑ 1960–61 NHL Season Summary
↑ 1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks
↑ Bobby Hull
↑ Glenn Hall
↑ 1961–62 Chicago Black Hawks
↑ "1961–1962 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
↑ Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-Jun-08.

Sources

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

Chicago Blackhawks seasons

1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1961–62 NHL season

Teams	Boston Chicago Detroit Montreal New York Toronto

See also	All-Star Game Stanley Cup Finals

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