1975–76 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1975–76 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 50th season in the NHL. During the previous season, the club had a 37–35–8 record, earning 82 points, and finished in third place in the Smythe Division. Then, the Black Hawks upset the heavily favored Boston Bruins in the NHL preliminary series before losing to the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL quarter-finals.[1]

1975–76 Chicago Black Hawks
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
Conference4th Campbell
1975–76 record32–30–18
Home record17–15–8
Road record15–15–10
Goals for254
Goals against261
Team information
General managerTommy Ivan
CoachBilly Reay
CaptainStan Mikita and
Pit Martin
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsPit Martin (32)
AssistsDale Tallon (47)
PointsPit Martin (71)
Penalty minutesPhil Russell (194)
Plus/minusKeith Magnuson (+13)
WinsTony Esposito (30)
Goals against averageTony Esposito (2.97)

Chicago started off the 1975–76 regular season with a 10–4–11 record in their first 25 games and took the lead in the Smythe Division. The Hawks had a 15-game unbeaten streak (6–0–9) during that span. The team reached a peak of being ten games over .500 with a record of 21–11–16 through 48 games. Chicago then fell into a slump and found themselves under .500 with only four games left in the season, falling to 29–30–17. The club went unbeaten in their last four games (3–0–1) to finish the year with a 32–30–18 record, earning 82 points, which was enough to finish in first place in the Smythe Division. The Hawks 32 wins was their lowest toal since 1967–68, when they also won 32 games. [2]

Offensively, the Black Hawks were led by Pit Martin, who had a club high 32 goals and 71 points. Dennis Hull rebounded from a poor 1974–75 season to score 27 goals and 66 points. Ivan Boldirev scored 28 goals and 62 points. Defenseman Dale Tallon led the club with 47 assists, while scoring 15 goals for 62 points. Stan Mikita missed 32 games due to injuries; however, he still earned 57 points. Keith Magnuson had a team high +13 rating, and Phil Russell led the club with 194 penalty minutes.

In goal, Tony Esposito once again led the club with 30 victories and a 2.97 GAA, earning four shutouts in 68 games.[3]

Since the Hawks won their division, they were given a bye in the NHL preliminary series, and they faced the powerful Montreal Canadiens in the NHL quarter-finals. The Canadiens had a record breaking season in 1975–76 with 58 wins and 127 points and finished in first place in the Norris Division. The Black Hawks—Candiens series opened with two games at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens quickly took control of the series, shutting out Chicago 4–0 in the series opener, and then winning 3–1 in the second game. The series continued at Chicago Stadium for the next two games, where the Canadiens took the third game by a 2–1 score, and then swept the Hawks out of the playoffs with a 4–1 victory in the fourth game.

Season standings
Smythe Division GP W L T GF GA Pts
Chicago Black Hawks8032301825426182
Vancouver Canucks8033321527127281
St. Louis Blues8029371424929072
Minnesota North Stars802053719530347
Kansas City Scouts8012561219035136

Game log

Regular season
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 8Chicago Black Hawks2–2New York Rangers0–0–11
2October 11Chicago Black Hawks1–2Toronto Maple Leafs0–1–11
3October 12Vancouver Canucks0–3Chicago Black Hawks1–1–13
4October 15Detroit Red Wings4–4Chicago Black Hawks1–1–24
5October 16Chicago Black Hawks1–7Buffalo Sabres1–2–24
6October 18Chicago Black Hawks3–1Minnesota North Stars2–2–26
7October 19Minnesota North Stars2–3Chicago Black Hawks3–2–28
8October 22Los Angeles Kings5–3Chicago Black Hawks3–3–28
9October 25Chicago Black Hawks4–0Kansas City Scouts4–3–210
10October 26Washington Capitals7–5Chicago Black Hawks4–4–210
11October 29Montreal Canadiens1–2Chicago Black Hawks5–4–212
12November 1Chicago Black Hawks3–1Detroit Red Wings6–4–214
13November 2Vancouver Canucks1–6Chicago Black Hawks7–4–216
14November 5Philadelphia Flyers4–4Chicago Black Hawks7–4–317
15November 8Chicago Black Hawks7–5Pittsburgh Penguins8–4–319
16November 9Minnesota North Stars0–3Chicago Black Hawks9–4–321
17November 12Chicago Black Hawks4–4New York Rangers9–4–422
18November 13Chicago Black Hawks5–5Philadelphia Flyers9–4–523
19November 15Chicago Black Hawks4–4Montreal Canadiens9–4–624
20November 19Chicago Black Hawks4–2Los Angeles Kings10–4–626
21November 22Chicago Black Hawks1–1Vancouver Canucks10–4–727
22November 26Toronto Maple Leafs4–4Chicago Black Hawks10–4–828
23November 29Boston Bruins4–4Chicago Black Hawks10–4–929
24November 30Kansas City Scouts1–1Chicago Black Hawks10–4–1030
25December 3Pittsburgh Penguins3–3Chicago Black Hawks10–4–1131
26December 4Chicago Black Hawks2–5Philadelphia Flyers10–5–1131
27December 7Atlanta Flames2–0Chicago Black Hawks10–6–1131
28December 10Chicago Black Hawks7–2Washington Capitals11–6–1133
29December 13Chicago Black Hawks1–2Minnesota North Stars11–7–1133
30December 14St. Louis Blues4–3Chicago Black Hawks11–8–1133
31December 17Philadelphia Flyers4–2Chicago Black Hawks11–9–1133
32December 19Chicago Black Hawks2–5California Golden Seals11–10–1133
33December 21New York Islanders2–5Chicago Black Hawks12–10–1135
34December 23St. Louis Blues1–4Chicago Black Hawks13–10–1137
35December 27Chicago Black Hawks4–1Toronto Maple Leafs14–10–1139
36December 28Buffalo Sabres2–2Chicago Black Hawks14–10–1240
37December 30California Golden Seals3–5Chicago Black Hawks15–10–1242
38January 3Chicago Black Hawks1–1New York Islanders15–10–1343
39January 4Pittsburgh Penguins3–5Chicago Black Hawks16–10–1345
40January 9Chicago Black Hawks1–1Atlanta Flames16–10–1446
41January 11New York Rangers6–2Chicago Black Hawks16–11–1446
42January 14Chicago Black Hawks2–2California Golden Seals16–11–1547
43January 16Chicago Black Hawks2–1Vancouver Canucks17–11–1549
44January 18Philadelphia Flyers0–2Chicago Black Hawks18–11–1551
45January 21Chicago Black Hawks3–3New York Rangers18–11–1652
46January 24Chicago Black Hawks2–1St. Louis Blues19–11–1654
47January 25Kansas City Scouts1–3Chicago Black Hawks20–11–1656
48January 28Atlanta Flames3–7Chicago Black Hawks21–11–1658
49January 29Chicago Black Hawks3–5Boston Bruins21–12–1658
50January 31Chicago Black Hawks1–2Detroit Red Wings21–13–1658
51February 1Vancouver Canucks3–2Chicago Black Hawks21–14–1658
52February 4Chicago Black Hawks3–8Montreal Canadiens21–15–1658
53February 6Chicago Black Hawks2–1Atlanta Flames22–15–1660
54February 8Washington Capitals2–4Chicago Black Hawks23–15–1662
55February 11Los Angeles Kings7–4Chicago Black Hawks23–16–1662
56February 14Chicago Black Hawks5–4Kansas City Scouts24–16–1664
57February 15Boston Bruins4–1Chicago Black Hawks24–17–1664
58February 18Buffalo Sabres4–4Chicago Black Hawks24–17–1765
59February 21Chicago Black Hawks1–10Pittsburgh Penguins24–18–1765
60February 22California Golden Seals5–2Chicago Black Hawks24–19–1765
61February 24Chicago Black Hawks4–1Vancouver Canucks25–19–1767
62February 26Chicago Black Hawks6–2Los Angeles Kings26–19–1769
63February 28Chicago Black Hawks1–4New York Islanders26–20–1769
64February 29Chicago Black Hawks1–4Washington Capitals26–21–1769
65March 4Chicago Black Hawks4–6Buffalo Sabres26–22–1769
66March 6Chicago Black Hawks4–7St. Louis Blues26–23–1769
67March 10Montreal Canadiens5–1Chicago Black Hawks26–24–1769
68March 13Chicago Black Hawks4–1Minnesota North Stars27–24–1771
69March 14New York Islanders5–3Chicago Black Hawks27–25–1771
70March 16Chicago Black Hawks6–3Kansas City Scouts28–25–1773
71March 17Toronto Maple Leafs5–6Chicago Black Hawks29–25–1775
72March 20Chicago Black Hawks2–4New York Islanders29–26–1775
73March 21Detroit Red Wings6–0Chicago Black Hawks29–27–1775
74March 24Atlanta Flames7–2Chicago Black Hawks29–28–1775
75March 25Chicago Black Hawks2–4Boston Bruins29–29–1775
76March 27New York Rangers6–5Chicago Black Hawks29–30–1775
77March 28Minnesota North Stars3–5Chicago Black Hawks30–30–1777
78March 31Kansas City Scouts3–6Chicago Black Hawks31–30–1779
79April 3Chicago Black Hawks3–3St. Louis Blues31–30–1880
80April 4St. Louis Blues2–7Chicago Black Hawks32–30–1882

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 11Chicago Black Hawks0–4Montreal Canadiens0–1
2April 13Chicago Black Hawks1–3Montreal Canadiens0–2
3April 15Montreal Canadiens2–1Chicago Black Hawks0–3
4April 18Montreal Canadiens4–1Chicago Black Hawks0–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Pit Martin8032397144
Dennis Hull8029396828
Ivan Boldirev7828346233
Dale Tallon80154762101
Cliff Koroll8025335829

[4]

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Tony Esposito68400330231319842.97
Gilles Villemure157972755704.29

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Dick Redmond40224
Darcy Rota41012
Pit Martin41014
Cliff Koroll41010
Phil Russell401117

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Tony Esposito4240041303.25

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks during the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft at the NHL Office in Montreal, Quebec.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club Team (League)
17Greg Vaydik CanadaMedicine Hat Tigers (WCHL)
225Danny Arndt CanadaSaskatoon Blades (WCHL)
343Mike O'Connell United StatesKingston Canadians (OHA)
461Pierre Giroux CanadaHull Festivals (QMJHL)
579Bob Hoffmeyer CanadaSaskatoon Blades (WCHL)
697Tom Ulseth United StatesUniversity of Wisconsin (NCAA)
7115Ted Bulley CanadaHull Festivals (QMJHL)
8141Paul Jensen United StatesMichigan Tech (NCAA)

Awards, records and honors

References
  1. 1974–75 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com
  2. 1974–75 Chicago Black Hawks Games – Hockey-Reference.com
  3. "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Tony Esposito". Archived from the original on 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  4. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000351976.html
  5. Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p.424, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6

Sources
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