# 1940–41 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1940–41 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 15th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a very good regular season in 1939–40, finishing above .500 for the first time in 4 seasons, however, they were quickly eliminated in 2 games by the Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs.
The Black Hawks would have a rough regular season in 1940–41, slipping to a 16–25–7 record, good for 39 points and 5th place in the NHL, and a 2nd straight playoff berth. The Hawks would score 112 goals, the 2nd fewest in the 7 team league, and they would allow 139 goals, which was the 3rd most.
Bill Thoms would lead the club in scoring with 32 points, while George Allen would get a team high 14 goals, and Doug Bentley would lead the club with 20 assists. Team captain Earl Seibert would anchor the blueline, earning 20 points, while fellow defenceman Joe Cooper had a club high 66 penalty minutes.
In goal, Paul Goodman would start the season, however, after a 7–10–4 start and a 2.50 GAA, he would be replaced by Sam LoPresti. LoPresti would go on to a 9–15–3 record and a GAA of 3.02.
Chicago would play the 6th place team, the Montreal Canadiens in a best of 3 series in the 1st round of the playoffs, and in a close fought series, with all 3 games being decided by a goal, the Black Hawks would defeat the Canadiens and earn a 2nd round matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings, who finished 14 points ahead of Chicago, would sweep the Black Hawks in 2 games, eliminating the Hawks from the playoffs.

## Season standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 27 | 8 | 13 | 67 | 168 | 102 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 28 | 14 | 6 | 62 | 145 | 99 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 21 | 16 | 11 | 53 | 112 | 102 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 50 | 143 | 125 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 39 | 112 | 139 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 38 | 121 | 147 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 8 | 29 | 11 | 27 | 99 | 186 |
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

1940–41 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 4–2–2 | 3–0–5 | 5–2–1 | 7–0–1 | 4–2–2 | 4–2–2 |
| Chicago | 2–4–2 | — | 2–6 | 3–4–1 | 3–2–3 | 4–3–1 | 2–6 |
| Detroit | 0–3–5 | 6–2 | — | 4–3–1 | 5–1–2 | 3–2–3 | 3–5 |
| Montreal | 2–5–1 | 4–3–1 | 3–4–1 | — | 4–3–1 | 2–5–1 | 1–6–1 |
| N.Y. Americans | 0–7–1 | 2–3–3 | 1–5–2 | 3–4–1 | — | 1–6–1 | 1–4–3 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 2–4–2 | 3–4–1 | 2–3–2 | 5–2–1 | 6–1–1 | — | 3–5 |
| Toronto | 2–4–2 | 6–2 | 5–3 | 6–1–1 | 4–1–3 | 5–3 | — |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

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

## Playoffs
### Black Hawks 2, Canadiens 1
#### NHL quarter-finals
##### (5) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens

* Chicago wins series 2 – 1

### Red Wings 2, Black Hawks 0
#### NHL semi-finals
##### (3) Detroit Red Wings vs. (5) Chicago Black Hawks

* Detroit wins series 2 – 0

## Player statistics
### Season statistics

Scoring leaders :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Bill Thoms | 47 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 8 |
| George Allen | 44 | 14 | 17 | 31 | 22 |
| Doug Bentley | 46 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 12 |
| Cully Dahlstrom | 40 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 6 |
| John Chad | 44 | 7 | 18 | 25 | 16 |
| Phil Hergesheimer | 47 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 9 |
| Bill Carse | 30 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 12 |
Goaltending :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Paul Goodman | 21 | 1320 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 55 | 2 | 2.50 |
| Sam LoPresti | 27 | 1670 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 84 | 1 | 3.02 |

### Playoffs statistics

Scoring leaders :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Cully Dahlstrom | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
| Mush March | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| George Allen | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| Max Bentley | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Doug Bentley | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Goaltending :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA |
| Sam LoPresti | 5 | 343 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 2.10 |