1939–40 Chicago Black Hawks season

1939–40 Chicago Black Hawks
Division4th NHL
1939–40 record23–19–6
Home record15–7–2
Road record8–12–4
Goals for112
Goals against120
Team information
General managerFrederic McLaughlin
CoachPaul Thompson
CaptainJohnny Gottselig
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsDoug Bentley (12 Goals)
AssistsCully Dahlstrom (19 Assists)
PointsCully Dahlstrom (30 Points)
Penalty minutesJoe Cooper (59 Minutes)
WinsPaul Goodman (16 Wins)
Goals against averagePaul Goodman (1.94)

The 1939–40 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 14th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a disastrous 1938–39 season, in which the Hawks were the only team in the 7 team league to not qualify for the playoffs. Paul Thompson, who finished the previous season as a player-coach with the Hawks, would retire from playing and become the full-time head coach of the team, and Chicago responded, as they improved by 20 points, finishing above .500 for the first time since 1935–36, and having their highest point total since 1934–35, as they would have a 23–19–6 record for 52 points, good for 4th place in the NHL standings.

Rookie Doug Bentley would lead the team with 12 goals, while Cully Dahlstrom would have team highs in assists (19) and points (30). Joe Cooper led all defensemen with 11 points and had a team high 59 penalty minutes, while fellow blueliner Earl Seibert had another productive season, earning 10 points, despite missing some time due to injuries.

In goal, Mike Karakas would begin the season as the starter, however, after 17 games, he was loaned to the Montreal Canadiens for the remainder of the year after posting a 7–9–1 record and a 3.31 GAA. Paul Goodman would then be named the Hawks starting goalie, and he would respond with a 16–10–5 record, and a team high 1.94 GAA.

Chicago would return to the playoffs after a 1-year absence, as they would face the 3rd place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs in a best of 3 series in the 1st round. The Leafs would win the first game of the series by a score of 3–2 in OT at Maple Leaf Gardens, and Toronto would then eliminate Chicago by a 2–1 score in the 2nd game at Chicago Stadium to eliminate the Black Hawks.

Season standings

National Hockey League
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Boston Bruins 48 31 12 5 170 98 330 67
New York Rangers 48 27 11 10 136 77 520 64
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 25 17 6 134 110 485 56
Chicago Black Hawks 48 23 19 6 112 120 351 52
Detroit Red Wings 48 16 26 6 90 126 250 38
New York Americans 48 15 29 4 106 140 236 34
Montreal Canadiens 48 10 33 5 90 167 338 25

[1]

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

1939–40 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYA NYR TOR
Boston — 6–1–1 5–3 6–1–1 7–1 2–4–2 5–2–1
Chicago 1–6–1 — 6–0–2 5–2–1 3–4–1 4–4 4–3–1
Detroit 3–5 0–6–2 — 5–3 5–3 2–3–2 1–6–1
Montreal 1–6–1 2–5–1 3–5 — 2–4–2 1–6–1 1–7
N.Y. Americans 1–7 4–3–1 3–5 4–2–2 — 1–6–1 2–6
N.Y. Rangers 4–2–2 4–4 3–2–2 6–1–1 6–1–1 — 4–1–3
Toronto 2–5–1 3–4–1 6–1–1 7–1 6–2 1–4–3 —


Schedule and results

Regular season

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 November 2 Detroit Red Wings 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 1–0–0 2
2 November 5 Chicago Black Hawks 2–8 Montreal Canadiens 1–1–0 2
3 November 12 New York Americans 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1–0 4
4 November 14 Chicago Black Hawks 1–3 Boston Bruins 2–2–0 4
5 November 16 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 New York Rangers 3–2–0 6
6 November 19 Boston Bruins 2–0 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3–0 6
7 November 26 Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 Detroit Red Wings 4–3–0 8
8 November 30 New York Rangers 7–2 Chicago Black Hawks 4–4–0 8
9 December 2 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–4–1 9
10 December 3 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks 4–5–1 9
11 December 7 New York Americans 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 5–5–1 11
12 December 10 Montreal Canadiens 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 6–5–1 13
13 December 12 Chicago Black Hawks 0–4 New York Americans 6–6–1 13
14 December 17 Boston Bruins 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks 6–7–1 13
15 December 21 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 7–7–1 15
16 December 23 Chicago Black Hawks 1–7 New York Rangers 7–8–1 15
17 December 25 Chicago Black Hawks 3–6 Boston Bruins 7–9–1 15
18 December 27 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 New York Americans 7–10–1 15
19 December 30 Chicago Black Hawks 2–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–11–1 15
20 January 1 Detroit Red Wings 0–1 Chicago Black Hawks 8–11–1 17
21 January 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 9–11–1 19
22 January 7 Montreal Canadiens 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks 9–12–1 19
23 January 9 Chicago Black Hawks 2–0 Montreal Canadiens 10–12–1 21
24 January 11 Chicago Black Hawks 3–5 New York Rangers 10–13–1 21
25 January 14 New York Rangers 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 11–13–1 23
26 January 21 New York Americans 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks 11–14–1 23
27 January 25 Boston Bruins 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 11–14–2 24
28 January 26 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1 Detroit Red Wings 11–14–3 25
29 January 28 Montreal Canadiens 1–8 Chicago Black Hawks 12–14–3 27
30 January 30 Chicago Black Hawks 0–5 Boston Bruins 12–15–3 27
31 February 1 Chicago Black Hawks 2–5 New York Americans 12–16–3 27
32 February 3 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 13–16–3 29
33 February 4 Detroit Red Wings 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 13–16–4 30
34 February 8 New York Americans 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 14–16–4 32
35 February 9 Chicago Black Hawks 3–0 Detroit Red Wings 15–16–4 34
36 February 11 New York Rangers 0–3 Chicago Black Hawks 16–16–4 36
37 February 15 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1 Montreal Canadiens 16–16–5 37
38 February 18 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1 New York Americans 16–16–6 38
39 February 22 Montreal Canadiens 1–10 Chicago Black Hawks 17–16–6 40
40 February 25 Boston Bruins 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 18–16–6 42
41 February 27 Chicago Black Hawks 0–6 Boston Bruins 18–17–6 42
42 February 29 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 New York Rangers 19–17–6 44
43 March 3 New York Rangers 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks 19–18–6 44
44 March 7 Chicago Black Hawks 6–1 Montreal Canadiens 20–18–6 46
45 March 9 Chicago Black Hawks 2–5 Toronto Maple Leafs 20–19–6 46
46 March 10 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 21–19–6 48
47 March 15 Chicago Black Hawks 4–3 Detroit Red Wings 22–19–6 50
48 March 17 Detroit Red Wings 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 23–19–6 52

Playoffs

Maple Leafs 2, Black Hawks 0

NHL quarter-finals

(3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) Chicago Black Hawks
March 19 Chicago Black Hawks 2 – 3 OT Toronto Maple Leafs Maple Leaf Gardens Recap  
Wiebe (1) – (Unassisted) – 2:31
March (1) – sh – (Unassisted) – 19:41 		First period No scoring
No scoring Second period No scoring
No scoring Third period 1:45 – Church (1) – (Unassisted)
9:09 – Apps (1) – (Davidson, Drillon)
No scoring First overtime period 6:36 – Apps (2) – (Davidson)
Goodman (0-1) Goalie stats Broda (1-0)
March 21 Toronto Maple Leafs 2 – 1 Chicago Black Hawks Chicago Stadium Recap  
No scoring First period No scoring
Drillon (1) – (Unassisted) – 4:18 Second period No scoring
Goldup (1) – (Unassisted) – 11:56 Third period 9:02 – pp – Carse (1) – (Gottselig, Siebert)
Broda (2-0) Goalie stats Goodman (0-2)
Toronto wins series 2 – 0


Player statistics

Regular season

Skaters
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Cully Dahlstrom 45 11 19 30 15
Bill Carse 48 10 13 23 10
Mush March 47 9 14 23 49
Johnny Gottselig 39 8 15 23 7
George Allen 47 10 12 22 26
Goaltenders
Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA
Paul Goodman 31 1920 16 10 5 62 4 1.94
Mike Karakas 17 1050 7 9 1 58 0 3.31

Playoffs

Skaters
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Mush March 2 1 0 1 2
Bill Carse 2 1 0 1 0
Art Wiebe 2 1 0 1 2
Johnny Gottselig 2 0 1 1 0
Earl Seibert 2 0 1 1 8
Goaltenders
Player GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Paul Goodman 2 127 0 2 5 0 2.36

References

Notes
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.