# 1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1938–39 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 13th season in the NHL, and they were coming off a very surprising Stanley Cup victory in 1937–38. The club was hoping to build on that success in a bid for a 2nd straight Stanley Cup.

## Pre-season

In July 1938, Chicago GM and vice-president Bill Tobin was named president of the club by Major McLaughlin.
The Montreal Maroons announced they would be folding, leaving the NHL with 7 teams, thus eliminating the need for divisions.

## Regular season

The Black Hawks would get off to a mediocre start, and after an 8–10–3 start, they would dismiss head coach Bill Stewart and replace him with player-coach Paul Thompson. The Hawks would struggle under Thompson, going 4–18–5, and finish in last place in the NHL, missing the playoffs for the 2nd time in 3 years. Chicago would continue having problems scoring goals, getting an NHL low 91 goals, while they gave up the 3rd most goals at 132.
Team captain Johnny Gottselig would lead the team offensively, getting team highs in goals (16), assists (23) and points (39). Joffre Desilets and Mush March would be the only other Hawks with double digit goals, with 11 and 10 goals respectively. Earl Seibert would anchor the defense, scoring 15 points and having a team high 57 penalty minutes.
In goal, Mike Karakas would be the starter, winning 12 games, earning 5 shutouts, and posting a GAA of 2.65.
A year after their unexpected Stanley Cup championship, the Black Hawks would become the only team in the league to miss the playoffs, as they finished 7 points behind the 6th place team, the Montreal Canadiens.

### Final standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 36 | 10 | 2 | 156 | 76 | 74 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 26 | 16 | 6 | 149 | 105 | 58 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 19 | 20 | 9 | 114 | 107 | 47 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 17 | 21 | 10 | 119 | 157 | 44 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 18 | 24 | 6 | 107 | 128 | 42 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 15 | 24 | 9 | 115 | 146 | 39 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 12 | 28 | 8 | 91 | 132 | 32 |
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

1938–39 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 8–0 | 7–1 | 6–2 | 5–2–1 | 5–3 | 5–2–1 |
| Chicago | 0–8 | — | 1–5–2 | 4–4 | 2–4–2 | 3–4–1 | 2–3–3 |
| Detroit | 1–7 | 5–1–2 | — | 4–3–1 | 3–3–2 | 2–6 | 3–4–1 |
| Montreal | 2–6 | 4–4 | 3–4–1 | — | 3–2–3 | 1–4–3 | 2–4–2 |
| N.Y. Americans | 2–5–1 | 4–2–2 | 3–3–2 | 2–3–3 | — | 2–5–1 | 4–3–1 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 3–5 | 4–3–1 | 6–2 | 4–1–3 | 5–2–1 | — | 4–3–1 |
| Toronto | 2–5–1 | 3–2–2 | 4–3–1 | 4–2–2 | 3–4–1 | 3–4–1 | — |

## Schedule and results

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

## Playoffs

The Black Hawks did not qualify for the playoffs.

## Player statistics
### Scoring leaders

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Johnny Gottselig | 48 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 15 |
| Joffre Desilets | 48 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 28 |
| Mush March | 47 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 29 |
| Cully Dahlstrom | 48 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 2 |
| Bill Thoms | 36 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 16 |

### Goaltending

| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
| Mike Karakas | 48 | 2988 | 12 | 28 | 8 | 132 | 5 | 2.65 |