# 1939–40 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1939–40 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 14th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a disastrous 1938–39 season, in which the Hawks were the only team in the 7 team league to not qualify for the playoffs. Paul Thompson, who finished the previous season as a player-coach with the Hawks, would retire from playing and become the full-time head coach of the team, and Chicago responded, as they improved by 20 points, finishing above .500 for the first time since 1935–36, and having their highest point total since 1934–35, as they would have a 23–19–6 record for 52 points, good for 4th place in the NHL standings.
Rookie Doug Bentley would lead the team with 12 goals, while Cully Dahlstrom would have team highs in assists (19) and points (30). Joe Cooper led all defensemen with 11 points and had a team high 59 penalty minutes, while fellow blueliner Earl Seibert had another productive season, earning 10 points, despite missing some time due to injuries.
In goal, Mike Karakas would begin the season as the starter, however, after 17 games, he was loaned to the Montreal Canadiens for the remainder of the year after posting a 7–9–1 record and a 3.31 GAA. Paul Goodman would then be named the Hawks starting goalie, and he would respond with a 16–10–5 record, and a team high 1.94 GAA.
Chicago would return to the playoffs after a 1-year absence, as they would face the 3rd place team, the Toronto Maple Leafs in a best of 3 series in the 1st round. The Leafs would win the first game of the series by a score of 3–2 in OT at Maple Leaf Gardens, and Toronto would then eliminate Chicago by a 2–1 score in the 2nd game at Chicago Stadium to eliminate the Black Hawks.

## Season standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 31 | 12 | 5 | 170 | 98 | 330 | 67 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 27 | 11 | 10 | 136 | 77 | 520 | 64 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 134 | 110 | 485 | 56 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 23 | 19 | 6 | 112 | 120 | 351 | 52 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 91 | 126 | 250 | 38 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 15 | 29 | 4 | 106 | 140 | 236 | 34 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 10 | 33 | 5 | 90 | 167 | 338 | 25 |
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

1939–40 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 6–1–1 | 5–3 | 6–1–1 | 7–1 | 2–4–2 | 5–2–1 |
| Chicago | 1–6–1 | — | 6–0–2 | 5–2–1 | 3–4–1 | 4–4 | 4–3–1 |
| Detroit | 3–5 | 0–6–2 | — | 5–3 | 5–3 | 2–3–2 | 1–6–1 |
| Montreal | 1–6–1 | 2–5–1 | 3–5 | — | 2–4–2 | 1–6–1 | 1–7 |
| N.Y. Americans | 1–7 | 4–3–1 | 3–5 | 4–2–2 | — | 1–6–1 | 2–6 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 4–2–2 | 4–4 | 3–2–2 | 6–1–1 | 6–1–1 | — | 4–1–3 |
| Toronto | 2–5–1 | 3–4–1 | 6–1–1 | 7–1 | 6–2 | 1–4–3 | — |

## Schedule and results
### Regular season

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | Pts |
| 1 | November 2 | Detroit Red Wings | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–0–0 | 2 |
| 2 | November 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–8 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–1–0 | 2 |
| 3 | November 12 | New York Americans | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1–0 | 4 |
| 4 | November 14 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–3 | Boston Bruins | 2–2–0 | 4 |
| 5 | November 16 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–2 | New York Rangers | 3–2–0 | 6 |
| 6 | November 19 | Boston Bruins | 2–0 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–3–0 | 6 |
| 7 | November 26 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings | 4–3–0 | 8 |
| 8 | November 30 | New York Rangers | 7–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–4–0 | 8 |
| 9 | December 2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 4–4–1 | 9 |
| 10 | December 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–5–1 | 9 |
| 11 | December 7 | New York Americans | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 5–5–1 | 11 |
| 12 | December 10 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 6–5–1 | 13 |
| 13 | December 12 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–4 | New York Americans | 6–6–1 | 13 |
| 14 | December 17 | Boston Bruins | 4–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 6–7–1 | 13 |
| 15 | December 21 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 7–7–1 | 15 |
| 16 | December 23 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–7 | New York Rangers | 7–8–1 | 15 |
| 17 | December 25 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–6 | Boston Bruins | 7–9–1 | 15 |
| 18 | December 27 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–4 | New York Americans | 7–10–1 | 15 |
| 19 | December 30 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 7–11–1 | 15 |
| 20 | January 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 0–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 8–11–1 | 17 |
| 21 | January 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 9–11–1 | 19 |
| 22 | January 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 9–12–1 | 19 |
| 23 | January 9 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–0 | Montreal Canadiens | 10–12–1 | 21 |
| 24 | January 11 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–5 | New York Rangers | 10–13–1 | 21 |
| 25 | January 14 | New York Rangers | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 11–13–1 | 23 |
| 26 | January 21 | New York Americans | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 11–14–1 | 23 |
| 27 | January 25 | Boston Bruins | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 11–14–2 | 24 |
| 28 | January 26 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–1 | Detroit Red Wings | 11–14–3 | 25 |
| 29 | January 28 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–8 | Chicago Black Hawks | 12–14–3 | 27 |
| 30 | January 30 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–5 | Boston Bruins | 12–15–3 | 27 |
| 31 | February 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–5 | New York Americans | 12–16–3 | 27 |
| 32 | February 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 13–16–3 | 29 |
| 33 | February 4 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 13–16–4 | 30 |
| 34 | February 8 | New York Americans | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 14–16–4 | 32 |
| 35 | February 9 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–0 | Detroit Red Wings | 15–16–4 | 34 |
| 36 | February 11 | New York Rangers | 0–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 16–16–4 | 36 |
| 37 | February 15 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–1 | Montreal Canadiens | 16–16–5 | 37 |
| 38 | February 18 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–1 | New York Americans | 16–16–6 | 38 |
| 39 | February 22 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–10 | Chicago Black Hawks | 17–16–6 | 40 |
| 40 | February 25 | Boston Bruins | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 18–16–6 | 42 |
| 41 | February 27 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–6 | Boston Bruins | 18–17–6 | 42 |
| 42 | February 29 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1 | New York Rangers | 19–17–6 | 44 |
| 43 | March 3 | New York Rangers | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 19–18–6 | 44 |
| 44 | March 7 | Chicago Black Hawks | 6–1 | Montreal Canadiens | 20–18–6 | 46 |
| 45 | March 9 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–5 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 20–19–6 | 46 |
| 46 | March 10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 21–19–6 | 48 |
| 47 | March 15 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4–3 | Detroit Red Wings | 22–19–6 | 50 |
| 48 | March 17 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 23–19–6 | 52 |

## Playoffs
### Maple Leafs 2, Black Hawks 0
#### NHL quarter-finals
##### (3) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (4) Chicago Black Hawks

* Toronto wins series 2 – 0

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Skaters

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Cully Dahlstrom | 45 | 11 | 19 | 30 | 15 |
| Bill Carse | 48 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 10 |
| Mush March | 47 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 49 |
| Johnny Gottselig | 39 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 7 |
| George Allen | 47 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 26 |

#### Goaltenders

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Paul Goodman | 31 | 1920 | 16 | 10 | 5 | 62 | 4 | 1.94 |
| Mike Karakas | 17 | 1050 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 58 | 0 | 3.31 |

### Playoffs
#### Skaters

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Mush March | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Bill Carse | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Art Wiebe | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Johnny Gottselig | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Earl Seibert | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |

#### Goaltenders

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA |
| Paul Goodman | 2 | 127 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2.36 |