1942–43 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1942–43 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 17th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off a 4th-place finish in 1941–42, and lost to the Boston Bruins in the opening round of the playoffs. The NHL would lose another team, as the Brooklyn Americans would fold, leaving the league with only 6 clubs. The league also increased its schedule from 48 games to 50. With World War II going on, every team in the league would lose some players who left to fight in the war.

1942–43 Chicago Black Hawks
Division	5th NHL
1942–43 record	17–18–15
Home record	14–3–8
Road record	3–15–7
Goals for	179
Goals against	180
Team information
General manager	Bill Tobin
Coach	Paul Thompson
Captain	Doug Bentley
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals	Doug Bentley (33)
Assists	Max Bentley (44)
Points	Doug Bentley (73)
Penalty minutes	Earl Seibert (48)
Wins	Bert Gardiner (17)
Goals against average	Bert Gardiner (3.58)

Black Hawks general manager Frederic McLaughlin, who had been the GM since the Black Hawks entered the league in 1926, retired before the season began, and Bill Tobin was hired to take over.

The Black Hawks would finish just under .500, as they had a 17–18–15 record, good for 49 points and 5th place in the standings, missing the playoffs for the first time in 4 years. Chicago would score a club record 179 goals, which was the 4th highest in the league, however, they also allowed a team record 180 goals, the 3rd highest total in the league. Chicago would have a very strong home record, going 14–3–8, but would win only 3 road games, and miss the playoffs by a single point.

Doug Bentley would become the first Black Hawk to lead the NHL in scoring, as he set team records in goals (33) and points (73), while younger brother Max Bentley would set a team record with 44 assists, and finished with 70 points, and won the Lady Byng Trophy, as he would record only 2 penalty minutes all season long. Red Hamill had a strong season, scoring 28 goals. Earl Seibert once again led the defense, earning 32 points and had a club high 48 penalty minutes.

In goal, the Hawks acquired Bert Gardiner from the Montreal Canadiens before the season began, due to Sam LoPresti leaving the team to fight in the war, and Gardiner would win 17 games, posting a 3.58 GAA and had a shutout.

Season standings

National Hockey League

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	50	25	14	11	169	124	+45	61
2	Boston Bruins	50	24	17	9	195	176	+19	57
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	50	22	19	9	198	159	+39	53
4	Montreal Canadiens	50	19	19	12	181	191	−10	50
5	Chicago Black Hawks	50	17	18	15	179	180	−1	49
6	New York Rangers	50	11	31	8	161	253	−92	30

Record vs. opponents

1942–43 NHL Records
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MTL	NYR	TOR
Boston	—	3–4–3	4–4–2	5–4–1	8–2	4–3–3
Chicago	4–3–3	—	2–4–4	1–4–5	4–4–2	6–3–1
Detroit	4–4–2	4–2–4	—	5–3–2	7–1–2	5–4–1
Montreal	4–5–1	4–1–5	3–5–2	—	6–2–2	2–6–2
New York	2–8	4–4–2	1–7–2	2–6–2	—	2–6–2
Toronto	3–4–3	3–6–1	4–5–1	6–2–2	6–2–2	—

Game log

Regular season

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	November 5	Boston Bruins	1–5	Chicago Black Hawks	1–0–0	2
2	November 8	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3	Detroit Red Wings	1–0–1	3
3	November 10	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5	New York Rangers	1–1–1	3
4	November 12	Chicago Black Hawks	2–5	Montreal Canadiens	1–2–1	3
5	November 14	Chicago Black Hawks	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–2–1	5
6	November 15	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–5	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2–1	7
7	November 19	Detroit Red Wings	2–6	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2–1	9
8	November 22	Montreal Canadiens	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2–2	10
9	November 24	Chicago Black Hawks	5–5	Boston Bruins	4–2–3	11
10	November 26	New York Rangers	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks	4–3–3	11
11	November 29	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	5–3–3	13
12	December 3	New York Rangers	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	6–3–3	15
13	December 6	Montreal Canadiens	2–5	Chicago Black Hawks	7–3–3	17
14	December 8	Chicago Black Hawks	6–9	Boston Bruins	7–4–3	17
15	December 10	Chicago Black Hawks	2–7	Toronto Maple Leafs	7–5–3	17
16	December 13	Toronto Maple Leafs	2–5	Chicago Black Hawks	8–5–3	19
17	December 17	Detroit Red Wings	3–1	Chicago Black Hawks	8–6–3	19
18	December 20	Boston Bruins	4–4	Chicago Black Hawks	8–6–4	20
19	December 25	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2	Montreal Canadiens	8–6–5	21
20	December 27	Chicago Black Hawks	1–6	Detroit Red Wings	8–7–5	21
21	January 1	New York Rangers	5–6	Chicago Black Hawks	9–7–5	23
22	January 3	Chicago Black Hawks	3–3	New York Rangers	9–7–6	24
23	January 10	Detroit Red Wings	1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	10–7–6	26
24	January 12	Chicago Black Hawks	0–3	Boston Bruins	10–8–6	26
25	January 14	Chicago Black Hawks	1–5	Montreal Canadiens	10–9–6	26
26	January 16	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1	Detroit Red Wings	10–9–7	27
27	January 17	Detroit Red Wings	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	10–9–8	28
28	January 21	Montreal Canadiens	4–4	Chicago Black Hawks	10–9–9	29
29	January 23	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–10–9	29
30	January 24	Boston Bruins	3–4	Chicago Black Hawks	11–10–9	31
31	January 28	New York Rangers	1–10	Chicago Black Hawks	12–10–9	33
32	January 31	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	12–10–10	34
33	February 2	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5	Boston Bruins	12–11–10	34
34	February 4	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1	New York Rangers	12–11–11	35
35	February 7	New York Rangers	4–8	Chicago Black Hawks	13–11–11	37
36	February 11	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5	Montreal Canadiens	13–12–11	37
37	February 13	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3	Toronto Maple Leafs	13–13–11	37
38	February 14	Boston Bruins	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	14–13–11	39
39	February 18	Montreal Canadiens	5–4	Chicago Black Hawks	14–14–11	39
40	February 21	Toronto Maple Leafs	0–5	Chicago Black Hawks	15–14–11	41
41	February 23	Chicago Black Hawks	7–5	Boston Bruins	16–14–11	43
42	February 25	Chicago Black Hawks	4–7	New York Rangers	16–15–11	43
43	February 27	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1	Toronto Maple Leafs	17–15–11	45
44	February 28	Boston Bruins	4–4	Chicago Black Hawks	17–15–12	46
45	March 6	Chicago Black Hawks	0–5	Detroit Red Wings	17–16–12	46
46	March 7	Detroit Red Wings	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	17–16–13	47
47	March 11	Montreal Canadiens	4–4	Chicago Black Hawks	17–16–14	48
48	March 13	Chicago Black Hawks	6–6	Montreal Canadiens	17–16–15	49
49	March 14	Chicago Black Hawks	5–7	New York Rangers	17–17–15	49
50	March 18	Chicago Black Hawks	5–6	Detroit Red Wings	17–18–15	49

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Doug Bentley	50	33	40	73	18
Max Bentley	47	26	44	70	2
Red Hamill	50	28	16	44	44
Bill Thoms	47	15	28	43	11
Mush March	50	7	29	36	46

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Bert Gardiner	50	3020	17	18	15	180	1	3.58

References

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007