# 1957–58 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1957–58 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 32nd season in the NHL, and the club was coming off their fourth consecutive last place finish in the league in 1956–57, as they had a 16–39–15 record, earning 47 points. The struggling Black Hawks had finished in last nine times in the past eleven seasons, and only one playoff appearance since 1946.
During the off-season, the Black Hawks and Detroit Red Wings made a blockbuster trade, as Chicago traded Hank Bassen, Johnny Wilson, Bill Preston, and Forbes Kennedy to the Red Wings for Glenn Hall and Ted Lindsay. Hall had won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1956, while Lindsay was a key member of the Red Wings Stanley Cup championships in 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1955. Chicago also signed 18-year-old Bobby Hull, who had spent the past two seasons with the St. Catharines Teepees of the OHA.
Chicago got off to a good start, playing over .500 hockey thirteen games into the season, as they had a 6–5–3 record, however, the club fell into a slump, going 4–12–3 in their next 19 games, falling out of the playoff race. Tommy Ivan decided to step down from head coaching duties, as he hired former Teepees head coach Rudy Pilous to take over the team. The Hawks responded, playing .500 hockey in Pilous' first 18 games behind the bench to get back into the playoff race, however, a seven-game losing streak soon followed, and the team fell out of playoff contention for good. The Hawks finished the year 24–39–7, earning 55 points, their highest total since 1952–53, and did not finish in last place for the first time since 1953, as they had two more points than the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Offensively, Chicago was led by Ed Litzenberger, who led the club in goals with 32, while adding 30 assists for 62 points. Rookie Bobby Hull scored 13 goals and 47 points, as he finishing second to Frank Mahovlich of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the Calder Memorial Trophy. Ted Lindsay recorded 15 goals and 39 points in his first season with the team, which was a 46-point dropoff from the previous season. Lindsay also had a club high 110 penalty minutes. Pierre Pilote led the defense, scoring 6 goals and 30 points, while fellow blueliner Moose Vasko scored 6 goals and 26 points.
In goal, Glenn Hall had all the playing time, winning 24 games, while posting a 2.86 GAA, and earning 7 shutouts.

## Season standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | 43 | 17 | 10 | 250 | 158 | +92 | 96 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 70 | 32 | 25 | 13 | 195 | 188 | +7 | 77 |
| 3 | Detroit Red Wings | 70 | 29 | 29 | 12 | 176 | 207 | −31 | 70 |
| 4 | Boston Bruins | 70 | 27 | 28 | 15 | 199 | 194 | +5 | 69 |
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 70 | 24 | 39 | 7 | 163 | 202 | −39 | 55 |
| 6 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 70 | 21 | 38 | 11 | 192 | 226 | −34 | 53 |

### Record vs. opponents

1957–58 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 7–3–4 | 8–5–1 | 3–9–2 | 6–5–3 | 3–6–5 |
| Chicago | 3–7–4 | — | 7–7 | 3–10–1 | 4–9–1 | 7–6–1 |
| Detroit | 5–8–1 | 7–7 | — | 3–7–4 | 4–5–5 | 10–2–2 |
| Montreal | 9–3–2 | 10–3–1 | 7–3–4 | — | 6–6–2 | 11–2–1 |
| New York | 5–6–3 | 9–4–1 | 5–4–5 | 6–6–2 | — | 7–5–2 |
| Toronto | 6–3–5 | 6–7–1 | 2–10–2 | 2–11–1 | 5–7–2 | — |

## Game log
### Regular season

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

## Season stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Ed Litzenberger | 70 | 32 | 30 | 62 | 63 |
| Bobby Hull | 70 | 13 | 34 | 47 | 62 |
| Ted Lindsay | 67 | 15 | 24 | 39 | 110 |
| Eric Nesterenko | 70 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 104 |
| Glen Skov | 70 | 17 | 18 | 35 | 35 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Glenn Hall | 70 | 4200 | 24 | 39 | 7 | 200 | 7 | 2.86 |