# 1930–31 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1930–31 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's fifth season in the NHL, and they were coming off a surprising season, in which they finished over .500 for the first time in team history, and making the playoffs after a two-year absence. The Hawks would go on to lose to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. Prior to the season, Chicago would name former team captain and player-coach Dick Irvin as the head coach. The team responded with a club record 24 wins and 51 points, and finished in second place in the American Division, and make the playoffs for the 2nd straight season.

## Regular season

Chicago was led offensively once again by Johnny Gottselig, who scored a club high 20 goals and 32 points, and by Tom Cook, who was the team leader in assists with 14, and finished 2nd in team scoring with 29 points. Frank Ingram would have a big season, scoring a career high 17 goals.
In goal, Chuck Gardiner would play in every game, and he would break the Hawks record for wins (24), shutouts (12) and GAA (1.73). The Hawks finished with the 2nd fewest goals against in the league.

### Season standings

American Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Boston Bruins | 44 | 28 | 10 | 6 | 143 | 90 | 62 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 24 | 17 | 3 | 108 | 78 | 51 |
| New York Rangers | 44 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 106 | 87 | 47 |
| Detroit Falcons | 44 | 16 | 21 | 7 | 102 | 105 | 39 |
| Philadelphia Quakers | 44 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 76 | 184 | 12 |
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | Pts |
| 1 | November 16 | New York Rangers | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–0–1 | 1 |
| 2 | November 20 | Boston Bruins | 0–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–0–1 | 3 |
| 3 | November 23 | Montreal Canadiens | 0–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–0–1 | 5 |
| 4 | November 25 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–3 | Boston Bruins | 3–0–1 | 7 |
| 5 | November 27 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–0 | New York Rangers | 4–0–1 | 9 |
| 6 | November 29 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–0 | Ottawa Senators | 5–0–1 | 11 |
| 7 | December 2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 | Montreal Maroons | 5–1–1 | 11 |
| 8 | December 4 | New York Americans | 2–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 6–1–1 | 13 |
| 9 | December 7 | Detroit Falcons | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 7–1–1 | 15 |
| 10 | December 9 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–1 | Detroit Falcons | 7–2–1 | 15 |
| 11 | December 14 | Montreal Maroons | 2–0 | Chicago Black Hawks | 7–3–1 | 15 |
| 12 | December 16 | Ottawa Senators | 2–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 8–3–1 | 17 |
| 13 | December 18 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–0 | Montreal Canadiens | 8–3–2 | 18 |
| 14 | December 20 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 8–4–2 | 18 |
| 15 | December 23 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–2 | Philadelphia Quakers | 9–4–2 | 20 |
| 16 | December 28 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 9–5–2 | 20 |
| 17 | January 1 | Philadelphia Quakers | 3–10 | Chicago Black Hawks | 10–5–2 | 22 |
| 18 | January 4 | Detroit Falcons | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 10–6–2 | 22 |
| 19 | January 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–5 | Boston Bruins | 10–7–2 | 22 |
| 20 | January 8 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–0 | Philadelphia Quakers | 11–7–2 | 24 |
| 21 | January 11 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–0 | New York Rangers | 12–7–2 | 26 |
| 22 | January 13 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–0 | New York Americans | 13–7–2 | 28 |
| 23 | January 15 | Boston Bruins | 0–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 14–7–2 | 30 |
| 24 | January 18 | New York Rangers | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 15–7–2 | 32 |
| 25 | January 22 | Philadelphia Quakers | 2–5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 16–7–2 | 34 |
| 26 | January 25 | Montreal Maroons | 3–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 16–8–2 | 34 |
| 27 | February 1 | Montreal Canadiens | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 16–9–2 | 34 |
| 28 | February 5 | Philadelphia Quakers | 1–6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 17–9–2 | 36 |
| 29 | February 8 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–2 | New York Rangers | 18–9–2 | 38 |
| 30 | February 10 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 | Boston Bruins | 18–10–2 | 38 |
| 31 | February 12 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–2 | Ottawa Senators | 19–10–2 | 40 |
| 32 | February 15 | New York Rangers | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 19–11–2 | 40 |
| 33 | February 19 | Detroit Falcons | 5–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 19–12–2 | 40 |
| 34 | February 22 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–1 | Detroit Falcons | 19–12–3 | 41 |
| 35 | February 24 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–3 | Montreal Maroons | 19–13–3 | 41 |
| 36 | March 1 | Ottawa Senators | 0–5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 20–13–3 | 43 |
| 37 | March 5 | New York Americans | 0–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 21–13–3 | 45 |
| 38 | March 8 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 | New York Americans | 21–14–3 | 45 |
| 39 | March 10 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 | Montreal Canadiens | 21–15–3 | 45 |
| 40 | March 12 | Boston Bruins | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 22–15–3 | 47 |
| 41 | March 15 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 22–16–3 | 47 |
| 42 | March 17 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–0 | Philadelphia Quakers | 23–16–3 | 49 |
| 43 | March 19 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–8 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 23–17–3 | 49 |
| 44 | March 22 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1 | Detroit Falcons | 24–17–3 | 51 |

## Playoffs

The Hawks would open the playoffs in a two-game total-goals series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and for the first time in team history, the Black Hawks won the series by a score of 4–3. Next up was a two-game total-goals series against the New York Rangers, and Chuck Gardiner would shine by shutting New York out in both games, as the Hawks won the series by a 3–0 score and earn a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Canadiens. The Hawks would lose the first game of the best-of-five series, but then would win two in a row in overtime to take a 2–1 series lead. Montreal would respond with a 4–2 victory in game four, and then the Canadiens would put away the Black Hawks with a 2–0 win in the fifth and deciding game, ending the Black Hawks dream of winning the championship one win short.

### Black Hawks 4, Maple Leafs 3
#### NHL quarter-finals
##### (A2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (C3) Toronto Maple Leafs

* Chicago wins series 4 – 3

### Black Hawks 3, Rangers 0
#### NHL semi-finals
##### (A2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (A3) New York Rangers

* Chicago wins series 3 – 0

### Canadiens 3, Black Hawks 2
#### Stanley Cup finals
##### (C1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (A2) Chicago Black Hawks

* Montreal wins series 3 – 2

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Johnny Gottselig | 42 | 20 | 12 | 32 | 14 |
| Tom Cook | 44 | 15 | 14 | 29 | 34 |
| Frank Ingram | 44 | 17 | 4 | 21 | 37 |
| Lolo Couture | 44 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 30 |
| Stewart Adams | 36 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 18 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Chuck Gardiner | 44 | 2710 | 24 | 17 | 3 | 78 | 12 | 1.73 |
| Alex Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

## Playoff stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Stewart Adams | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Johnny Gottselig | 9 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Mush March | 9 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
| Tom Cook | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| Vic Ripley | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Chuck Gardiner | 9 | 638 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 1.32 |
| Alex Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |