# 1933–34 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1933–34 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's eighth season in the NHL, and they were coming off a disappointing 1932–33 season, as the Hawks finished in last place in the American Division and missed the playoffs. Tommy Gorman was brought back to be the head coach of the Black Hawks, and while the team would score an NHL low 88 goals, they also allowed an NHL best 83 goals, and have a 20–17–11 record to finish in 2nd place in the American Division. Goaltender Chuck Gardiner was named captain of the team for the season.
Paul Thompson would score a team leading 20 goals and 36 points, while Doc Romnes earned a club high 21 assists. Johnny Gottselig would have a strong season, recording 16 goals and 30 points, while Lionel Conacher, acquired from the Montreal Maroons before the season began, would bolster the blueline, leading all defensemen with 23 points and had a club high 87 penalty minutes.
In goal, Chuck Gardiner would win his 2nd Vezina Trophy, as he helped the Black Hawks to a league low 83 goals against. Gardiner would win 20 games, post 10 shutouts and set a club record with a 1.63 GAA.
The Hawks would face the Montreal Canadiens in the 1st round of the playoffs in a 2-game total goal series, and after winning the first game at the Montreal Forum by a 3–2 score, the Black Hawks would tie Montreal 1–1 in the 2nd game to win the series by a 4–3 score. In the 2nd round, Chicago would face the other Montreal team, the Montreal Maroons, in another 2 game total goal series. The Hawks would once again win the opening game, this time by a 3–0 score, and then Chicago would hold off the Maroons in the 2nd game, winning 3–2, to win the series by a 6–2 score, allowing the Hawks to advance to their second Stanley Cup Finals in three years. The Hawks would face the Detroit Red Wings in a best of 5 series, and the Black Hawks would take the first 2 games in Detroit, returning home needing only 1 win to clinch the Stanley Cup. The Wings spoiled the party in game 3, beating the Black Hawks by a 5–2 victory, but the Black Hawks would come back, and win the 4th game 1–0 in double overtime to clinch their first ever Stanley Cup.
The Black Hawks Stanley Cup celebration would be cut short, when goaltender Chuck Gardiner would suffer from a brain hemorrhage, and died on June 13, 1934, due to brain surgery complications.

## Season standings

American Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 24 | 14 | 10 | 113 | 98 | 58 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 88 | 83 | 51 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 21 | 19 | 8 | 120 | 113 | 50 |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 18 | 25 | 5 | 111 | 130 | 41 |
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
### Regular season

| # | Date | Visitor | Score | Home | Record | Pts |
| 1 | November 9 | New York Americans | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–0–1 | 1 |
| 2 | November 12 | New York Rangers | 0–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–0–1 | 3 |
| 3 | November 14 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–3 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–1–1 | 3 |
| 4 | November 16 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1 | Ottawa Senators | 2–1–1 | 5 |
| 5 | November 19 | Ottawa Senators | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–1–1 | 7 |
| 6 | November 21 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–2 | Boston Bruins | 3–2–1 | 7 |
| 7 | November 23 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–0 | New York Americans | 4–2–1 | 9 |
| 8 | November 26 | Boston Bruins | 0–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 5–2–1 | 11 |
| 9 | November 30 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–2 | Detroit Red Wings | 5–3–1 | 11 |
| 10 | December 3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–1 | New York Rangers | 5–4–1 | 11 |
| 11 | December 7 | Montreal Maroons | 1–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 6–4–1 | 13 |
| 12 | December 9 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 6–5–1 | 13 |
| 13 | December 12 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–4 | Detroit Red Wings | 6–6–1 | 13 |
| 14 | December 14 | Detroit Red Wings | 0–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 7–6–1 | 15 |
| 15 | December 17 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 8–6–1 | 17 |
| 16 | December 19 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–2 | Ottawa Senators | 8–6–2 | 18 |
| 17 | December 21 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–0 | Montreal Maroons | 8–6–3 | 19 |
| 18 | December 23 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–1 | Boston Bruins | 9–6–3 | 21 |
| 19 | December 26 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1 | New York Americans | 10–6–3 | 23 |
| 20 | December 28 | Ottawa Senators | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 10–6–4 | 24 |
| 21 | January 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 10–7–4 | 24 |
| 22 | January 7 | New York Rangers | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 10–7–5 | 25 |
| 23 | January 11 | Boston Bruins | 0–0 | Chicago Black Hawks | 10–7–6 | 26 |
| 24 | January 14 | New York Americans | 0–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 11–7–6 | 28 |
| 25 | January 16 | Chicago Black Hawks | 5–6 | Montreal Maroons | 11–8–6 | 28 |
| 26 | January 18 | Chicago Black Hawks | 0–5 | New York Rangers | 11–9–6 | 28 |
| 27 | January 20 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 11–9–7 | 29 |
| 28 | January 21 | Montreal Maroons | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 11–9–8 | 30 |
| 29 | January 25 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 12–9–8 | 32 |
| 30 | January 28 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 0–2 | Chicago Black Hawks | 13–9–8 | 34 |
| 31 | January 30 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–0 | Ottawa Senators | 14–9–8 | 36 |
| 32 | February 1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 3–3 | Montreal Canadiens | 14–9–9 | 37 |
| 33 | February 4 | Boston Bruins | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 14–10–9 | 37 |
| 34 | February 8 | Detroit Red Wings | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 14–10–10 | 38 |
| 35 | February 11 | Montreal Canadiens | 1–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 15–10–10 | 40 |
| 36 | February 15 | Ottawa Senators | 2–5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 16–10–10 | 42 |
| 37 | February 18 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1 | New York Rangers | 17–10–10 | 44 |
| 38 | February 20 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–3 | New York Americans | 17–11–10 | 44 |
| 39 | February 22 | New York Americans | 0–0 | Chicago Black Hawks | 17–11–11 | 45 |
| 40 | February 24 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–3 | Montreal Canadiens | 17–12–11 | 45 |
| 41 | February 27 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1–3 | Boston Bruins | 17–13–11 | 45 |
| 42 | March 1 | New York Rangers | 3–1 | Chicago Black Hawks | 17–14–11 | 45 |
| 43 | March 4 | Montreal Maroons | 2–4 | Chicago Black Hawks | 18–14–11 | 47 |
| 44 | March 8 | Detroit Red Wings | 3–0 | Chicago Black Hawks | 18–15–11 | 47 |
| 45 | March 11 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–3 | Detroit Red Wings | 18–16–11 | 47 |
| 46 | March 13 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–6 | Montreal Maroons | 18–17–11 | 47 |
| 47 | March 15 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2–1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 19–17–11 | 49 |
| 48 | March 18 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2–3 | Chicago Black Hawks | 20–17–11 | 51 |

## Playoffs
### Black Hawks 4, Canadiens 3
#### NHL quarter-finals
##### (A2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (C2) Montreal Canadiens

* Chicago wins series 4 – 3

### Black Hawks 6, Maroons 2
#### NHL semi-finals
##### (A2) Chicago Black Hawks vs. (C3) Montreal Maroons

* Chicago wins series 6 – 2

### Black Hawks 3, Red Wings 1
#### Staney Cup finals
##### (A1) Detroit Red Wings vs. (A2) Chicago Black Hawks

* Chicago wins series 3 – 1

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Paul Thompson | 48 | 20 | 16 | 36 | 17 |
| Johnny Gottselig | 48 | 16 | 14 | 30 | 4 |
| Doc Romnes | 47 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 6 |
| Lionel Conacher | 48 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 87 |
| Mush March | 48 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 26 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Chuck Gardiner | 48 | 3050 | 20 | 17 | 11 | 83 | 10 | 1.63 |

## Playoff stats
### Scoring leaders

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

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Chuck Gardiner | 8 | 542 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 1.33 |