# 1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 12th season in the NHL. They were attempting to bounce off a horrible 1936–37 season, in which the club failed to qualify for the playoffs. In the off-season, the team would replace head coach Clem Loughlin with Bill Stewart. The Black Hawks would struggle again in 1937–38, finishing with 37 points with a 14–25–9 record, but managed to earn a playoff spot by finishing two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and clinch third place in the American Division. They would score an NHL low 97 goals, while giving up the 2nd most goals in the league at 139. The Hawks were a .500 team at home with a 10–10–4 record, but would only have a record of 4–15–5 on the road.
Paul Thompson would lead the Hawks offensively, setting a club record with 44 points, along with a club high 22 goals, and tying Doc Romnes for the team lead with 22 assists. Johnny Gottselig would have another solid season, earning 32 points, tying Romnes for 2nd on the team scoring list. Earl Seibert would lead the defense with 21 points, and had a club high 38 penalty minutes.
In goal, Mike Karakas would win 14 games, earn a shutout and post a 2.80 GAA.
In the playoffs, the Black Hawks would face the Montreal Canadiens in the 1st round in a best-of-three series. The underdog Hawks would surprise Montreal, winning the best-of three series in the full three games, clinching the series with a 3–2 OT victory at the Montreal Forum. After losing Game One to Montreal, the Hawks were less than 90 seconds away from being eliminated in the quarterfinals, but managed to tie Game Two late in the third period. Chicago won the crucial game in overtime. Next up would be the New York Americans, who finished 2nd in the Canadian Division, and had 12 more points than the Hawks in the regular season. In a best-of-three semi-final series, the Black Hawks again lost the first game of the series and were on the verge of elimination in Game Two but won it in overtime. The Black Hawks would stun the favored Americans, winning the Game Three to win the series 2–1 and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Hawks opponent would be the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had just swept the best team in the regular season, the Boston Bruins, in a best-of-five semi-final series featuring the champions of the NHL's two divisions.
Due to an injury to goaltender Mike Karakas, the Black Hawks would get permission by the Leafs to use goaltender Alfie Moore, who spent the season with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the IAHL in the first game, and he responded by helping the Black Hawks win the game 3–1. In the 2nd game, Karakas was still unavailable, and Chicago would call up Paul Goodman from the Wichita Skyhawks of the AHA. The Maple Leafs would even up the series with a 5–1 victory. The Black Hawks would get Karakas back into the lineup for the 3rd game, and he helped the Hawks to a 2–1 victory. Chicago would then wrap up the series in the 4th game, winning by a score of 4–1 to earn its 2nd Stanley Cup in team history, shocking the hockey world.

## Season standings

American Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 142 | 89 | 67 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 27 | 15 | 6 | 149 | 96 | 60 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 14 | 25 | 9 | 97 | 139 | 37 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 12 | 25 | 11 | 99 | 133 | 35 |
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
## Game log
### Regular season

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

## Playoffs
### Black Hawks 2, Canadiens 1
#### NHL quarter-finals
##### (C3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (A3) Chicago Black Hawks

* Chicago wins series 2 – 1

### Black Hawks 2, Americans 1
#### NHL semi-finals
##### (C2) New York Americans vs. (A3) Chicago Black Hawks

* Chicago wins series 2 – 1

### Black Hawks 3, Maple Leafs 1
#### Stanley Cup finals
##### (C1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (A3) Chicago Black Hawks

* Chicago wins series 3 – 1

## Season stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Paul Thompson | 48 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 14 |
| Johnny Gottselig | 48 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 22 |
| Doc Romnes | 44 | 10 | 22 | 32 | 4 |
| Mush March | 42 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 16 |
| Louis Trudel | 42 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 15 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Mike Karakas | 48 | 2980 | 14 | 25 | 9 | 139 | 1 | 2.80 |

## Playoff stats
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Johnny Gottselig | 10 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| Earl Seibert | 10 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 12 |
| Paul Thompson | 10 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 6 |
| Mush March | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
| Doc Romnes | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA |
| Alfie Moore | 1 | 60 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.00 |
| Mike Karakas | 8 | 525 | 6 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 1.71 |
| Paul Goodman | 1 | 60 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5.00 |