1960 – 61 Chicago Black Hawks season The 1960 – 61 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks ' thirty - fifth season in the National Hockey League ( NHL ) , and the club was coming off of a third - place finish in 1959 – 60 , as they finished with a 28 - 29 - 13 record , earning 69 points , which tied the team records for wins and points in a season . Chicago faced the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL semi - finals and lost in four straight . Regular season . The Black Hawks started the year off very strong , earning a 6 - 1 - 2 record in their first nine games ; however , the club went into a slump in which their record was 5 - 13 - 6 in their next 24 games , casuing them to fall under the . 500 mark and into a battle with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers for a playoff spot . Chicago would snap out of their slump , and go on a seven - game winning streak to sit with an 18 - 14 - 8 record , 40 games into the season . The Hawks continued to play good hockey for the remainder of the season , going 11 - 10 - 9 in their last 30 games to finish the season with a club - record 29 victories and 75 points . The Hawks finished in third place for the third consecutive season , and for the first time since 1945 - 46 the club finished the season with a record over . 500 . Offensively , Chicago was led by Bill Hay , who led the team with 48 assists and 59 points , while Bobby Hull scored a team - high 31 goals . Stan Mikita had a break out season , scoring 19 goals and 53 points , as did Murray Balfour , who had 21 goals and 48 points . On defense , Pierre Pilote led the way , scoring 6 goals and 35 points while posting a team - high 165 penalty minutes . In goal , Glenn Hall played in all 70 games , winning a team - record 29 games , while posting a 2 . 51 GAA and 6 shutouts . Playoffs . Chicago faced the Montreal Canadiens in the best - of - seven NHL semi - final for the third consecutive season . The Canadiens once again finished on top of the NHL , earning 92 points , and had won five straight Stanley Cup championships . The heavily favored Canadiens took the series opener at the Montreal Forum , easily defeating Chicago 6 - 2 ; however , the Black Hawks fought back in the second game , evening the series out with a 4 - 3 win . The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next two games , and the Black Hawks used their home ice advantage to take a 2 - 1 series lead with a thrilling 2 - 1 overtime victory in the third game ; however , the powerful Canadiens stormed back in the fourth game , defeating Chicago 5 - 2 to even the series up once again . The Black Hawks stunned the Montreal fans in the fifth game , shutting out the Canadiens 3 - 0 on the road to return back to Chicago for the sixth game up 3 - 2 in the series . Chicago completed the upset , once again shutting out the Canadiens 3 - 0 in the sixth game to win the series 4 - 2 , and earned a trip to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1944 . The Black Hawks faced the Detroit Red Wings in the 1961 Stanley Cup Finals . The Red Wings finished the season behind Chicago in the regular season , earning 66 points ; however , they upset the heavily favored Toronto Maple Leafs to earn a spot in the finals . The Hawks took the series opener on home ice , as Bobby Hull scored two goals in Chicago ' s 3 - 2 win . The series moved to the Detroit Olympia for the second game , and the Red Wings responded with a 3 - 1 win to even the series up . The third game was back in Chicago , and it was the Hawks who took a 2 - 1 series lead by defeating the Red Wings 3 - 1 ; however , in the fourth game back in Detroit , the Red Wings evened the series up again , defeating the Hawks 2 - 1 . Chicago easily won the fifth game in Chicago , winning 6 - 3 to take the series lead once again . In the sixth game in Detroit , the Black Hawks won the series as they handily defeated the Wings 5 - 1 to win their third Stanley Cup in team history , and the first since 1938 . Pierre Pilote led all players in playoff scoring , earning 15 points , while Bobby Hull was just behind him with 14 points .