1969–70_Chicago_Black_Hawks_season

1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks season

1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks season

National Hockey League team season

The 1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 44th season in the NHL, and the club was coming off a sixth-place finish in the East Division in 1968–69, failing to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since the 1957–58 season. Despite missing the playoffs, the Black Hawks had a record of 34–33–9, earning 77 points, as they had their ninth consecutive season of playing over .500 hockey.[1]

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During the off-season, Chicago claimed goaltender Tony Esposito from the Montreal Canadiens in the intra-league draft on June 11, 1969. The Hawks also named Pat Stapleton as their new team captain. The Black Hawks did not have a captain for the 1968–69 season, as the spot was not filled after former captain Pierre Pilote was traded during the 1968 off-season.

The Black Hawks began the season very slowly, as they lost their opening five games to quickly fall into the East Division cellar. Chicago then rebounded, and after 35 games, the Hawks had a 15–15–5 record. The Black Hawks then got hot, as they went on a seven-game winning streak, and continued to play great hockey for the rest of the season, as Chicago won a franchise record 45 games, earning a club record 99 points tied with Boston Bruins for first overall. However, since Chicago won five more games, they finished in first place for the second time in franchise history and were awarded the Prince of Wales Trophy.[2]

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Stan Mikita, who scored a team high 39 goals, 47 assists and 86 points, as he finished third in the NHL scoring race. Bobby Hull had another solid season, scoring 38 goals and 67 points, while Pit Martin had 30 goals and 63 points. Team captain Pat Stapleton led the defense with 42 points, while Keith Magnuson had a club record 213 penalty minutes, along with a club high +38 rating.

In goal, Tony Esposito emerged as one of the top goaltenders in the league, as he won a club record 38 games, while posting a 2.17 GAA and a team record 15 shutouts. Esposito was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy and the Vezina Trophy for his efforts.[3]

The Hawks opened the playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings in the East Division semi-finals. The Red Wings finished the season with a 40–21–15 record, earning 95 points, which was good for third in the East Division. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and the Black Hawks used home ice to their advantage, as they defeated Detroit by scores of 4–2 in both games to take the early series lead. The series shifted to the Detroit Olympia for the next two games, however, Chicago stayed hot, as they once again won both games by scores of 4–2 to sweep the series and advance to the next playoff round.

Chicago faced the Boston Bruins in the East Division finals. Both teams finished the season with 99 points, however, since Boston had a record of 40–17–19, which was five wins less than Chicago, the Black Hawks were awarded home ice advantage. The Bruins had defeated the New York Rangers in their opening round. The series opened in Chicago, however, it was the Bruins who took control of the series, winning both games at Chicago Stadium by scores of 6–3 and 4–1 to take the series lead. The series moved to the Boston Garden for the next two games, and the Bruins easily knocked off the Black Hawks, winning the third game by a 5–2 score, then clinching the series with a 5–4 victory in the fourth game, sweeping the Black Hawks.

Season standings

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Record vs. opponents

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Game log

Regular season

#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 11Chicago Black Hawks2–7St. Louis Blues0–1–00
2October 12Oakland Seals2–1Chicago Black Hawks0–2–00
3October 15Detroit Red Wings4–1Chicago Black Hawks0–3–00
4October 18Chicago Black Hawks1–4Toronto Maple Leafs0–4–00
5October 19Minnesota North Stars4–1Chicago Black Hawks0–5–00
6October 22Chicago Black Hawks1–1New York Rangers0–5–11
7October 25Chicago Black Hawks5–0Montreal Canadiens1–5–13
8October 29Chicago Black Hawks1–3Oakland Seals1–6–13
9November 1Chicago Black Hawks4–1Los Angeles Kings2–6–15
10November 5New York Rangers1–3Chicago Black Hawks3–6–17
11November 8Chicago Black Hawks4–1Pittsburgh Penguins4–6–19
12November 9Toronto Maple Leafs0–9Chicago Black Hawks5–6–111
13November 15Oakland Seals2–3Chicago Black Hawks6–6–113
14November 16Montreal Canadiens0–1Chicago Black Hawks7–6–115
15November 19New York Rangers1–1Chicago Black Hawks7–6–216
16November 21Boston Bruins2–2Chicago Black Hawks7–6–317
17November 23Pittsburgh Penguins2–3Chicago Black Hawks8–6–319
18November 26Los Angeles Kings0–6Chicago Black Hawks9–6–321
19November 29Chicago Black Hawks4–5Detroit Red Wings9–7–321
20November 30St. Louis Blues1–3Chicago Black Hawks10–7–323
21December 3Chicago Black Hawks3–3New York Rangers10–7–424
22December 4Montreal Canadiens1–0Chicago Black Hawks10–8–424
23December 6Chicago Black Hawks1–6Boston Bruins10–9–424
24December 7Detroit Red Wings1–5Chicago Black Hawks11–9–426
25December 10Chicago Black Hawks5–8Minnesota North Stars11–10–426
26December 13Chicago Black Hawks1–4Montreal Canadiens11–11–426
27December 14Philadelphia Flyers1–4Chicago Black Hawks12–11–428
28December 17Chicago Black Hawks1–3Los Angeles Kings12–12–428
29December 19Chicago Black Hawks4–0Oakland Seals13–12–430
30December 21St. Louis Blues0–4Chicago Black14–12–432
31December 25Chicago Black Hawks4–4Minnesota North Stars14–12–533
32December 27Chicago Black Hawks3–0Pittsburgh Penguins15–12–535
33December 31Chicago Black Hawks1–2New York Rangers15–13–535
34January 3Chicago Black Hawks2–6Toronto Maple Leafs15–14–535
35January 4Chicago Black Hawks0–4Detroit Red Wings15–15–535
36January 7Detroit Red Wings0–7Chicago Black Hawks16–15–537
37January 10Chicago Black Hawks6–2St. Louis Blues17–15–539
38January 11Los Angeles Kings1–3Chicago Black Hawks18–15–541
39January 14Pittsburgh Penguins0–5Chicago Black Hawks19–15–543
40January 17Chicago Black Hawks1–0Boston Bruins20–15–545
41January 18Oakland Seals1–3Chicago Black Hawks21–15–547
42January 22Chicago Black Hawks4–3Detroit Red Wings22–15–549
43January 24Chicago Black Hawks1–4Montreal Canadiens22–16–549
44January 25Toronto Maple Leafs3–2Chicago Black Hawks22–17–549
45January 28Philadelphia Flyers2–2Chicago Black Hawks22–17–650
46January 31Chicago Black Hawks5–0Philadelphia Flyers23–17–652
47February 1Minnesota North Stars4–7Chicago Black Hawks24–17–654
48February 4Boston Bruins4–8Chicago Black Hawks25–17–656
49February 7Philadelphia Flyers4–4Chicago Black Hawks25–17–757
50February 8Montreal Canadiens3–2Chicago Black Hawks25–18–757
51February 11Pittsburgh Penguins1–7Chicago Black Hawks26–18–759
52February 14Chicago Black Hawks5–2Minnesota North Stars27–18–761
53February 15Toronto Maple Leafs4–6Chicago Black Hawks28–18–763
54February 18Chicago Black Hawks2–5St. Louis Blues28–19–763
55February 19Minnesota North Stars2–3Chicago Black Hawks29–19–765
56February 21New York Rangers2–4Chicago Black Hawks30–19–767
57February 22Boston Bruins3–6Chicago Black Hawks31–19–769
58February 26Chicago Black Hawks3–2Philadelphia Flyers32–19–771
59February 28Chicago Black Hawks0–3Boston Bruins32–20–771
60March 1Chicago Black Hawks3–1New York Rangers33–20–773
61March 3Chicago Black Hawks3–1Los Angeles Kings34–20–775
62March 6Chicago Black Hawks3–2Oakland Seals35–20–777
63March 8Chicago Black Hawks3–2Philadelphia Flyers36–20–779
64March 10Boston Bruins0–0Chicago Black Hawks36–20–880
65March 14New York Rangers4–7Chicago Black Hawks37–20–882
66March 15Los Angeles Kings2–5Chicago Black Hawks38–20–884
67March 18Chicago Black Hawks7–4Toronto Maple Leafs39–20–886
68March 19Chicago Black Hawks1–3Boston Bruins39–21–886
69March 21Chicago Black Hawks5–3Pittsburgh Penguins40–21–888
70March 22St. Louis Blues0–1Chicago Black Hawks41–21–890
71March 26Chicago Black Hawks1–0Detroit Red Wings42–21–892
72March 28Chicago Black Hawks1–1Toronto Maple Leafs42–21–993
73March 29Toronto Maple Leafs0–4Chicago Black Hawks43–21–995
74April 1Detroit Red Wings5–2Chicago Black Hawks43–22–995
75April 4Chicago Black Hawks4–1Montreal Canadiens44–22–997
76April 5Montreal Canadiens2–10Chicago Black Hawks45–22–999

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Detroit Red Wings 0

#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 8Detroit Red Wings2–4Chicago Black Hawks1–0
2April 9Detroit Red Wings2–4Chicago Black Hawks2–0
3April 11Chicago Black Hawks4–2Detroit Red Wings3–0
4April 12Chicago Black Hawks4–2Detroit Red Wings4–0

Boston Bruins 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0

#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 19Boston Bruins6–3Chicago Black Hawks0–1
2April 21Boston Bruins4–1Chicago Black Hawks0–2
3April 23Chicago Black Hawks2–5Boston Bruins0–3
4April 26Chicago Black Hawks4–5Boston Bruins0–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

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Goaltending

PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Gerry Desjardins4240400802.00
Tony Esposito63376338178136152.17
Denis DeJordy105573512502.69

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

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Goaltending

PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Tony Esposito8480442703.38

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

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References

  1. [1]
    1968–69 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com
  2. [2]
    1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks Games – Hockey-Reference.com
  3. [3]
    "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Tony Esposito". Archived from the original on February 17, 2008. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  4. [4]
    "1969–1970 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  5. [5]
    "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

Sources
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