1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks season

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1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks
Division 4th NHL
1952–53 record 27–28–15
Home record 14–11–10
Road record 13–17–5
Goals for 169
Goals against 175
Team information
General Manager Bill Tobin
Coach Sid Abel
Captain Bill Gadsby
Arena Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals Jim McFadden (23)
Assists Cal Gardner (24)
Points Jim McFadden (44)
Penalties in minutes George Gee (99)
Wins Al Rollins (27)
Goals against average Al Rollins (2.50)
<1951–52 1953–54>

The 1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 27th season in the NHL, and they were coming off of two consecutive seasons of finishing in last place in the six team NHL. The Black Hawks had a record of 17–44–9 in 1951–52, missing the playoffs for the sixth straight season. In 1952–53, the Black Hawks qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Montreal Canadiens.

Off-season

In the off-season, the Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs completed a trade which sent Harry Lumley to Toronto for Al Rollins, Cal Gardner and Gus Mortson. Chicago also fired head coach Ebbie Goodfellow, and replaced him with Sid Abel, who would be a player-coach. Abel would name defenceman Bill Gadsby as the new team captain.

Chicago also saw a change in ownership, as Arthur Wirtz and James D. Norris took over the struggling and near bankrupt franchise.

Regular season

The Black Hawks started the season off strong, sitting with a 10–5–3 record in their first 18 games, however, the club would fall into a slump, and went 2–7–5 in their next 14 games to fall to .500. Chicago would continue to hover around the .500 for the rest of the season, battling with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot. Going into the final weekend of the season, Chicago would earn big wins against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot, and advance to the playoffs for the first time since 1946. The Hawks finished with club records in wins with 27, and points with 69.

Offensively, the team was led by Jim McFadden, who scored a team high 23 goals and 44 points, while newly acquired Cal Gardner earned a club best 24 assists, en route to earning 35 points. Jimmy Peters would join McFadden as the only Hawks with over 20 goals and 40 points, as he scored 22 and 41 respectively. George Gee scored 18 goals and 39 points, while posting a team high 99 penalty minutes. Team captain Bill Gadsby led the defense with 22 points, while fellow blueliner Al Dewsbury scored 5 goals, and finished with 97 penalty minutes.

In goal, Al Rollins played in all 70 games, setting a team record with 27 victories, along with a solid 2.50 GAA, and 6 shutouts.

Season standings

National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1 Detroit Red Wings 70 36 16 18 222 133 +89 90
2 Montreal Canadiens 70 28 23 19 155 148 +7 75
3 Chicago Black Hawks 70 27 28 15 169 175 −6 69
4 Boston Bruins 70 28 29 13 152 172 −20 69
5 Toronto Maple Leafs 70 27 30 13 156 167 −11 67
6 New York Rangers 70 17 37 16 152 211 −59 50


Playoffs

The Black Hawks would face the second place Montreal Canadiens in a best of seven opening round series. The Canadiens finished the year with a 28–23–19 record, earning 75 points, which was six more than the Hawks. The series opened up at the Montreal Forum, and the favored Canadiens won the series opener by a 3–1 score, then took a 2–0 series lead by winning a close second game by a 4–3 score. The series shifted to Chicago for the next two games, and the Black Hawks would respond, winning the third game in overtime to cut the series lead to 2–1, as the team won their first playoff game since 1944. The Hawks evened the series up at 2–2 with a 3–1 win in the fourth game, sending the series back to Montreal. Chicago stunned the Montreal crowd in the fifth game, defeating the Canadiens 4–2 to take a 3–2 series lead. The Canadiens, though, would shut out Chicago 3–0 in the sixth game, setting up a seventh and final game. Montreal would easily win the game, defeating the Black Hawks 4–1, putting an end to a very surprising season for the Black Hawks.

Schedule and results

Regular season

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 October 9 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 Montreal Canadiens 1–0–0 2
2 October 11 Chicago Black Hawks 6–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–0–0 4
3 October 12 New York Rangers 0–2 Chicago Black Hawks 3–0–0 6
4 October 14 Detroit Red Wings 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 3–0–1 7
5 October 16 Chicago Black Hawks 0–7 Detroit Red Wings 3–1–1 7
6 October 19 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2–1 7
7 October 23 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2–2 8
8 October 26 Boston Bruins 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2–3 9
9 October 29 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 New York Rangers 4–2–3 11
10 October 30 New York Rangers 3–8 Chicago Black Hawks 5–2–3 13
11 November 2 Boston Bruins 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks 6–2–3 15
12 November 8 Chicago Black Hawks 4–6 Montreal Canadiens 6–3–3 15
13 November 9 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Boston Bruins 6–4–3 15
14 November 12 Chicago Black Hawks 2–5 New York Rangers 6–5–3 15
15 November 13 New York Rangers 2–6 Chicago Black Hawks 7–5–3 17
16 November 15 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 8–5–3 19
17 November 16 Montreal Canadiens 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks 9–5–3 21
18 November 20 Boston Bruins 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 10–5–3 23
19 November 22 Chicago Black Hawks 1–10 Detroit Red Wings 10–6–3 23
20 November 23 Detroit Red Wings 0–3 Chicago Black Hawks 11–6–3 25
21 November 27 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks 11–6–4 26
22 November 29 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1 Montreal Canadiens 11–6–5 27
23 November 30 New York Rangers 1–1 Chicago Black Hawks 11–6–6 28
24 December 3 Chicago Black Hawks 5–3 New York Rangers 12–6–6 30
25 December 4 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Boston Bruins 12–7–6 30
26 December 6 Detroit Red Wings 2–0 Chicago Black Hawks 12–8–6 30
27 December 7 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–0 Chicago Black Hawks 12–9–6 30
28 December 11 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 12–10–6 30
29 December 13 Chicago Black Hawks 0–3 Montreal Canadiens 12–11–6 30
30 December 14 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 Boston Bruins 12–11–7 31
31 December 18 Boston Bruins 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks 12–11–8 32
32 December 20 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 12–12–8 32
33 December 21 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks 13–12–8 34
34 December 25 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 Detroit Red Wings 13–12–9 35
35 December 28 Chicago Black Hawks 6–3 New York Rangers 14–12–9 37
36 January 1 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 14–12–10 38
37 January 3 Chicago Black Hawks 1–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 14–12–11 39
38 January 4 Chicago Black Hawks 3–5 Detroit Red Wings 14–13–11 39
39 January 7 Chicago Black Hawks 6–4 New York Rangers 15–13–11 41
40 January 10 Chicago Black Hawks 2–5 Montreal Canadiens 15–14–11 41
41 January 11 Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 Boston Bruins 16–14–11 43
42 January 14 Chicago Black Hawks 0–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 16–15–11 43
43 January 15 Montreal Canadiens 2–0 Chicago Black Hawks 16–16–11 43
44 January 18 New York Rangers 0–2 Chicago Black Hawks 17–16–11 45
45 January 22 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 Boston Bruins 17–16–12 46
46 January 24 Chicago Black Hawks 5–1 Montreal Canadiens 18–16–12 48
47 January 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–3 Chicago Black Hawks 18–17–12 48
48 January 29 Detroit Red Wings 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks 18–18–12 48
49 January 31 Chicago Black Hawks 0–4 Detroit Red Wings 18–19–12 48
50 February 1 New York Rangers 1–0 Chicago Black Hawks 18–20–12 48
51 February 5 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Boston Bruins 18–21–12 48
52 February 7 Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 19–21–12 50
53 February 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–4 Chicago Black Hawks 20–21–12 52
54 February 12 Montreal Canadiens 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 20–22–12 52
55 February 15 Detroit Red Wings 4–1 Chicago Black Hawks 20–23–12 52
56 February 16 Chicago Black Hawks 1–3 Detroit Red Wings 20–24–12 52
57 February 19 New York Rangers 4–2 Chicago Black Hawks 20–25–12 52
58 February 22 Boston Bruins 0–2 Chicago Black Hawks 21–25–12 54
59 February 27 Boston Bruins 0–3 Chicago Black Hawks 22–25–12 56
60 March 1 Boston Bruins 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 22–25–13 57
61 March 4 Chicago Black Hawks 4–1 New York Rangers 23–25–13 59
62 March 5 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 24–25–13 61
63 March 7 Chicago Black Hawks 0–1 Montreal Canadiens 24–26–13 61
64 March 8 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2 Boston Bruins 24–27–13 61
65 March 12 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 24–27–14 62
66 March 14 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 Detroit Red Wings 25–27–14 64
67 March 15 Detroit Red Wings 0–0 Chicago Black Hawks 25–27–15 65
68 March 18 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Toronto Maple Leafs 25–28–15 65
69 March 21 Detroit Red Wings 3–4 Chicago Black Hawks 26–28–15 67
70 March 22 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1 New York Rangers 27–28–15 69

Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 3
# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 24 Chicago Black Hawks 1–3 Montreal Canadiens 0–1
2 March 26 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Montreal Canadiens 0–2
3 March 29 Montreal Canadiens 1–2 Chicago Black Hawks 1–2
4 March 31 Montreal Canadiens 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2
5 April 2 Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 Montreal Canadiens 3–2
6 April 4 Montreal Canadiens 3–0 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3
7 April 7 Chicago Black Hawks 1–4 Montreal Canadiens 3–4

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Jim McFadden 70 23 21 44 29
Jimmy Peters 69 22 19 41 16
George Gee 67 18 21 39 99
Gerry Couture 70 19 18 37 22
Bill Mosienko 65 17 20 37 8

Goaltending

Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA
Al Rollins 70 4200 27 28 15 175 6 2.50

Playoff

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Bill Mosienko 7 4 2 6 7
Jim McFadden 7 3 0 3 4
George Gee 7 1 2 3 6
Al Dewsbury 7 1 2 3 4
Gus Mortson 7 1 1 2 6

Goaltending

Player GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Al Rollins 7 425 3 4 18 0 2.54

Roster

1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers

References

  1. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. listed elsewhere as #18 - Impossible. McFadden, also listed as #18, team's top scorer, played all 70 games. Game program Maple Leaf Gardens, Sat.Feb.7,1953 shows a fan's handwritten notation "14 McBurney". #14 was randomly used by 'call ups', see Finney, Sclisizzi, Glover above. McBurney played just one game, scoring an assist.

Sources