1974 – 75 Chicago Black Hawks season The 1974 – 75 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks ' forty - ninth season in the NHL , and the club was coming off a 41 - 14 - 23 record in 1973 - 74 , earning 105 point s , and finishing in second place in the West Division . The Black Hawks defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL quarter - finals , but lost to the Boston Bruins in the semi - finals . During the off - season , the NHL made a number of changes . The league expanded by two more teams , as the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals joined the league , making the NHL an 18 team league . The schedule was then bumped up from 78 games to 80 , and the previously two division league was split into two conferences and four divisions . The Black Hawks found themselves in the newly created Smythe Division with the Minnesota North Stars , St . Louis Blues , Vancouver Canucks , and the expansion team Kansas City Scouts . The Smythe Division was part of the newly created Campbell Conference . Chicago began the regular season with a strong 7 - 3 - 1 in their first eleven games , however , the team fell into a slump , and found themselves under the . 500 level 26 games into the season with a record of 11 - 12 - 3 . The Black Hawks would continue to hover around . 500 for the rest of the season , and eventually finish the year with a 37 - 35 - 8 record , earning 82 points . Chicago ' s 37 victories and 82 points were their lowest totals since the 1968 - 69 season , while their 35 losses was the most since the team lost 39 in 1957 - 58 . The team finished in third place in the Smythe Division , and earn a spot in the post - season as the eleventh seed . Offensively , the Black Hawks were led by Stan Mikita , who led the club with 36 goals , 50 assists and 86 points . Jim Pappin tied Mikita with 36 goals , and added 27 assists for 63 points . Newly acquired Ivan Boldirev , who spent the previous season with the California Golden Seals , stepped in and finished second in team scoring with 67 points , as he recorded 23 goals and 44 assists . Cliff Koroll had a strong season , scoring 27 goals and 59 points , while defenseman Dick Redmond led the blueline with 14 goals and 57 points . John Marks led the Black Hawks with a + 27 rating , while Phil Russell had a team high 260 penalty minutes . In goal , Tony Esposito once again led the club with 34 victories and a 2 . 74 GAA , earning six shutouts in 71 games . The Hawks opened the playoffs against the fifth seeded Boston Bruins in a best of three preliminary round . The Bruins finished the season with a 40 - 26 - 14 record , earning 94 points , and a second place finish in the Adams Division . The series opened with a game at the Boston Garden , and the heavily favored Bruins easily disposed the Black Hawks by a score of 8 - 2 . The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next game , and the Hawks responded , with a 4 - 3 overtime victory , to set up a third and final game back in Boston . Chicago would complete the upset , stunning the Bruins by a score of 6 - 4 in the third game , to advance to the NHL quarter - finals . Chicago ' s next opponent in a best of seven series was the second seeded Buffalo Sabres , who had a record of 49 - 16 - 15 , earning 113 points , and a first place finish in the Adams Division . The series started with two games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium . The Sabres used their home ice advantage , and quickly took a 2 - 0 series lead with wins of 4 - 1 and 3 - 1 . The series moved to Chicago for the next two games , and the Hawks cut into the Sabres lead with a 5 - 4 overtime win in the third game . Buffalo responded in the fourth game though , as they cruised to a 6 - 2 win . The Sabres closed out the series in the fifth game back in Buffalo , winning the game 3 - 1 . Draft picks . Chicago ' s draft picks at the 1974 NHL Amateur Draft held via conference call at the NHL office in Montreal , Quebec .