1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 13th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a very surprising Stanley Cup victory in 1937–38. The club was hoping to build on that success in a bid for a 2nd straight Stanley Cup.

1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks
Division7th NHL
1938–39 record12–28–8
Home record5–13–6
Road record7–15–2
Goals for91
Goals against132
Team information
General managerFrederic McLaughlin
CoachBill Stewart (8–10–3)
Paul Thompson (4–18–5)
CaptainJohnny Gottselig
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsJohnny Gottselig (16)
AssistsJohnny Gottselig (23)
PointsJohnny Gottselig (39)
Penalty minutesEarl Seibert (57)
WinsMike Karakas (12)
Goals against averageMike Karakas (2.65)

Pre-season

In July 1938, Chicago GM and vice-president Bill Tobin was named president of the club by Major McLaughlin.[1]

The Montreal Maroons announced they would be folding, leaving the NHL with 7 teams, thus eliminating the need for divisions.

Regular season

The Black Hawks would get off to a mediocre start, and after an 8–10–3 start, they would dismiss head coach Bill Stewart and replace him with player-coach Paul Thompson. The Hawks would struggle under Thompson, going 4–18–5, and finish in last place in the NHL, missing the playoffs for the 2nd time in 3 years. Chicago would continue having problems scoring goals, getting an NHL low 91 goals, while they gave up the 3rd most goals at 132.

Team captain Johnny Gottselig would lead the team offensively, getting team highs in goals (16), assists (23) and points (39). Joffre Desilets and Mush March would be the only other Hawks with double digit goals, with 11 and 10 goals respectively. Earl Seibert would anchor the defense, scoring 15 points and having a team high 57 penalty minutes.

In goal, Mike Karakas would be the starter, winning 12 games, earning 5 shutouts, and posting a GAA of 2.65.

A year after their unexpected Stanley Cup championship, the Black Hawks would become the only team in the league to miss the playoffs, as they finished 7 points behind the 6th place team, the Montreal Canadiens.

Final standings
National Hockey League
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Boston Bruins48361021567674
New York Rangers482616614910558
Toronto Maple Leafs481920911410747
New York Americans4817211011915744
Detroit Red Wings481824610712842
Montreal Canadiens481524911514639
Chicago Black Hawks48122889113232

[2]

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.

Record vs. opponents
1938–39 NHL Records [3]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYA NYR TOR
Boston —8–07–16–25–2–15–35–2–1
Chicago 0–8—1–5–24–42–4–23–4–12–3–3
Detroit 1–75–1–2—4–3–13–3–22–63–4–1
Montreal 2–64–43–4–1—3–2–31–4–32–4–2
N.Y. Americans 2–5–14–2–23–3–22–3–3—2–5–14–3–1
N.Y. Rangers 3–54–3–16–24–1–35–2–1—4–3–1
Toronto 2–5–13–2–24–3–14–2–23–4–13–4–1—

Schedule and results
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1November 3New York Americans1–6Chicago Black Hawks1–0–02
2November 5Chicago Black Hawks2–0Toronto Maple Leafs2–0–04
3November 6Chicago Black Hawks3–2Montreal Canadiens3–0–06
4November 13Montreal Canadiens3–4Chicago Black Hawks4–0–08
5November 17New York Rangers1–0Chicago Black Hawks4–1–08
6November 20Toronto Maple Leafs1–1Chicago Black Hawks4–1–19
7November 24Chicago Black Hawks2–4Detroit Red Wings4–2–19
8November 26Chicago Black Hawks4–6New York Americans4–3–19
9November 27Chicago Black Hawks1–0New York Rangers5–3–111
10December 1Detroit Red Wings4–1Chicago Black Hawks5–4–111
11December 4Boston Bruins5–0Chicago Black Hawks5–5–111
12December 6Chicago Black Hawks0–2Boston Bruins5–6–111
13December 10Chicago Black Hawks1–4Toronto Maple Leafs5–7–111
14December 11New York Americans0–4Chicago Black Hawks6–7–113
15December 15Toronto Maple Leafs4–4Chicago Black Hawks6–7–214
16December 18New York Rangers0–5Chicago Black Hawks7–7–216
17December 22Detroit Red Wings3–3Chicago Black Hawks7–7–317
18December 25Chicago Black Hawks1–5New York Americans7–8–317
19December 27Chicago Black Hawks4–1Montreal Canadiens8–8–319
20December 29Chicago Black Hawks1–4Detroit Red Wings8–9–319
21January 1Montreal Canadiens4–3Chicago Black Hawks8–10–319
22January 5Boston Bruins2–1Chicago Black Hawks8–11–319
23January 8Toronto Maple Leafs0–1Chicago Black Hawks9–11–321
24January 10Chicago Black Hawks1–3Boston Bruins9–12–321
25January 12Chicago Black Hawks0–6New York Rangers9–13–321
26January 14Chicago Black Hawks1–3Toronto Maple Leafs9–14–321
27January 15New York Rangers1–1Chicago Black Hawks9–14–422
28January 22New York Americans1–1Chicago Black Hawks9–14–523
29January 26Detroit Red Wings1–0Chicago Black Hawks9–15–523
30January 29Montreal Canadiens1–0Chicago Black Hawks9–16–523
31January 31Chicago Black Hawks2–3New York Rangers9–17–523
32February 2Chicago Black Hawks4–2Montreal Canadiens10–17–525
33February 5Boston Bruins3–0Chicago Black Hawks10–18–525
34February 7Chicago Black Hawks2–2New York Americans10–18–626
35February 9Chicago Black Hawks4–2Detroit Red Wings11–18–628
36February 16Detroit Red Wings1–1Chicago Black Hawks11–18–729
37February 19Toronto Maple Leafs4–3Chicago Black Hawks11–19–729
38February 21Chicago Black Hawks2–8Boston Bruins11–20–729
39February 23Chicago Black Hawks1–3New York Americans11–21–729
40February 26Boston Bruins5–1Chicago Black Hawks11–22–729
41March 2Chicago Black Hawks3–1New York Rangers12–22–731
42March 4Chicago Black Hawks1–1Toronto Maple Leafs12–22–832
43March 5Montreal Canadiens2–1Chicago Black Hawks12–23–832
44March 9New York Rangers8–3Chicago Black Hawks12–24–832
45March 12New York Americans3–2Chicago Black Hawks12–25–832
46March 14Chicago Black Hawks2–4Boston Bruins12–26–832
47March 16Chicago Black Hawks1–5Montreal Canadiens12–27–832
48March 19Chicago Black Hawks2–3Detroit Red Wings12–28–832

Playoffs

The Black Hawks did not qualify for the playoffs.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Johnny Gottselig4816233915
Joffre Desilets4811132428
Mush March4710112129
Cully Dahlstrom48614202
Bill Thoms366111716

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Mike Karakas4829881228813252.65

Transactions

See also

References
  1. "Bill Tobin Named Hawks' President". Ottawa Citizen. July 27, 1938. p. 14.
  2. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  3. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  • National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007
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