1961 – 62 Chicago Black Hawks season The 1961 – 62 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks ' thirty - sixth season in the NHL , and the club was coming off of a third place finish in 1960 – 61 , as they finished with a 29 - 24 - 17 record , earning 75 points , which was a franchise record , and the first time since 1946 that the Hawks had an over . 500 record . Chicago upset the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens in the NHL semi - finals , then defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the 1961 Stanley Cup Finals to win their third Stanley Cup in team history , and the first one since 1938 . During the off - season , the Black Hawks traded away team captain Ed Litzenberger to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Gerry Melnyk and Brian Smith . Chicago also had some problems signing some of their players , as Stan Mikita , Reg Fleming , and Dollard St . Laurent all refused to sign their contracts , however , they all eventually came to terms . With Litzenberger traded away , the team named defenseman Pierre Pilote as the new captain . The defending champions started off the season slow , earning only one win in their first eleven games , as they had a record of 1 - 5 - 5 , however , the team rebounded , and put together a 16 - 12 - 8 record in the next 36 games to get to the . 500 level . The Black Hawks then got hot , as they then won six games in a row , followed shortly by a four game winning streak , as the team managed to finish the season with a 31 - 26 - 13 record , tying a club record with 75 points , and setting a team record for wins in a season at 31 , which was two more than the previous high of 29 set the previous season . Offensively , Chicago was led by Bobby Hull , who set a team record with 50 goals and 84 points . He became the third player in NHL history , Maurice Richard and Bernie Geoffrion were the others , to score 50 goals in a season . Hull ' s 84 points tied him with Andy Bathgate of the New York Rangers for the league lead , however , since Hull scored more goals , he was awarded the Art Ross Memorial Trophy . Stan Mikita emerged as an offensive force , breaking out with a team high 52 assists and 77 points , while Bill Hay also recorded 52 assists en route to a 63 point season . Pierre Pilote led the Hawks blueline , scoring 7 goals and 42 points , while tying Mikita and Eric Nesterenko for the most penalty minutes on the team , with 97 . In goal , Glenn Hall once again played in all 70 games , setting a team record for wins with 31 , and posting a 2 . 63 GAA , along with 9 shutouts . Chicago would face the Montreal Canadiens in the best of seven NHL semi - final for the fourth consecutive season . The Canadiens were once again heavily favored to defeat the Hawks , as they had an NHL best 98 points , which was 23 more than Chicago . Montreal opened the series off by winning the opening two games at the Montreal Forum by scores of 2 - 1 and 4 - 3 to take an early 2 - 0 series lead , however , as the series shifted over to Chicago Stadium , the Black Hawks took advantage , winning the next two games by scores of 4 - 1 and 5 - 3 to even up the series . The fifth game was back in Montreal , however , Chicago stayed hot , and narrowly defeated the Canadiens 4 - 3 to return home with a 3 - 2 series lead . The Hawks again took advantage of their home ice , shutting out the Canadiens 2 - 0 , and eliminating Montreal for the second straight season , and earning a spot in the finals . Chicago would face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1962 Stanley Cup Finals . The Leafs had a strong regular season , earning 85 points , and had defeated the fourth place New York Rangers to clinch a spot in the finals . The series opened at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto , and much like their previous series against the Canadiens , the Black Hawks quickly found themselves down 2 - 0 , as Toronto won the first two games by scores of 4 - 1 and 3 - 2 . The next two games were held in Chicago , and the Black Hawks continued their home ice winning streak , taking the two games by scores of 3 - 0 and 4 - 1 to pull even . The clubs were back in Toronto for the fifth game , and it was the Maple Leafs easily beating Chicago 8 - 4 to take a 3 - 2 series lead . Toronto ended Chicago ' s five game home winning streak in the sixth game , holding off Chicago for a 2 - 1 win , and ending the Hawks chance of a second straight championship .