1977 – 78 Chicago Black Hawks season The 1977 – 78 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks ' fifty - second season in the NHL , and the club was coming off a 26 - 43 - 11 record , earning 63 point s , which was their lowest total since the 1957 - 58 season . The Hawks managed to qualify for the playoffs , as they finished in third place in the Smythe Division . In the playoffs , the Black Hawks were quickly swept out in two games by the Boston Bruins in the NHL Preliminary Round . Offseason . During the off - season , Hawks general manager Tommy Ivan announced his retirement , and the club decided to not bring interim head coach Bill White back , so the club hired former Los Angeles Kings head coach Bob Pulford to take over both the head coach and general manager position . Pulford had been the head coach of the Kings from 1972 – 1977 , winning the 1975 Jack Adams Trophy . The team also named Keith Magnuson as the only team captain , as in the 1976 - 77 season , the Hawks used Magnuson , Stan Mikita and Pit Martin as co - captains . Regular season . The Black Hawks started off the season in a slump , as the team had a 6 - 10 - 8 record in their first 24 games . Chicago eventually snapped out of their funk , and found themselves a season high five games over . 500 with a 24 - 18 - 16 record late in February . The Hawks , who were comfortably in first place in the Smythe Division , finished the season with a 32 - 29 - 19 record , earning 83 points , which was their highest total since 1973 - 74 , and their sixth division title in the past nine seasons . Offensively , the Black Hawks were led by Ivan Boldirev , who scored a team high 35 goals and 45 assists for 80 points . Thirty - seven year old Stan Mikita earned 59 points in 76 games to finish second in team scoring , while twenty - two year old Ted Bulley had a very solid rookie season , scoring 23 goals and 51 points in 79 games . Another rookie , Doug Wilson , led the defense , scoring 14 goals and 34 points , while Bob Murray also scored 14 goals , along with 17 assists from the blueline . Keith Magnuson had a team high 145 penalty minutes , while John Marks led Chicago with a + 27 rating . In goal , Tony Esposito once again had the majority of playing time , winning 28 games , along with 5 shutouts and a 2 . 63 GAA . Playoffs . Since the Hawks won their division , they were given a bye in the NHL Preliminary Round , and advanced straight to the NHL quarter - finals . Their first round opponent was the Boston Bruins , who finished in first place in the Adams Division with 113 points . The series opened at the Boston Garden , and the Bruins struck first , easily winning the first game by a 6 - 1 score . Chicago forced the second game into overtime , however , the Bruins would be victorious once again , this time winning 4 - 3 to take a 2 - 0 series lead . The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next two games , but it was Boston who stayed hot , as they defeated the Hawks 4 - 3 in overtime once again in the third game . The Bruins dominated the fourth game , winning 5 - 2 , to sweep the series . This was the third straight season that the Black Hawks were swept out of their first playoff round , as the team saw their playoff losing streak reach twelve games . Draft picks . Chicago ' s draft picks at the 1977 NHL Amateur Draft at the Mount Royal Hotel in Montreal , Quebec .