1962 – 63 Chicago Black Hawks season The 1962 – 63 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks ' thirty - seventh season in the NHL , and the club was coming off a third place finish for the fourth consecutive season in 1961 - 62 , as Chicago won a team record 31 games and tied a club record with 75 points . The Hawks would go on and upset the heavily favored Montreal Canadiens in the NHL semi - finals for the second straight season , however , the Black Hawks would lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1962 Stanley Cup Finals . During the off - season , the Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs reportedly came to agreement which would see the Hawks acquire Frank Mahovlich from Toronto for $ 1 million , however , the deal was nixed when Maple Leafs general manager Punch Imlach , on the advice from Conn Smythe , refused the deal , stating that $ 1 million does not score goals . Chicago started the year off hovering around the . 500 level through their first 12 games , as they had a record of 5 - 4 - 3 . Goaltender Glenn Hall , who had played an NHL record 502 consecutive games , injured his back early in November and suffered a pinch nerve , and was relieved by backup Denis DeJordy in a game against the Boston Bruins . Hall would miss the next game against the Montreal Canadiens , ending his streak , however , the Hawks won the game by a 3 - 1 score . Hall would rebound from his injury , and the team would play very good hockey for the remainder of the season , winning a team record 32 games , and also setting a club record with 81 points , and finishing in second place in the NHL standings for the first time since they finished second in the American Division back in 1935 . Offensively , the Hawks were led by Stan Mikita , who led the team with 45 assists and 76 points , and tied Bobby Hull for the team lead in goals , with 31 . Hull added 31 assists to his goal total to finish second in team scoring with 62 points , while Ab McDonald set a career high with 61 points , as he scored 20 goals and added 41 assists . On defense , Pierre Pilote led the way , scoring 8 goals and 26 points , along with superb defensive play , as he won the Norris Trophy . Eric Nesterenko provided the team toughness , as he had a team high 103 penalty minutes . In goal , Glenn Hall played the majority of the games , winning 30 of them , while posting an NHL best GAA of 2 . 47 , and earning 5 shutouts . Hall would win the Vezina Trophy , as Chicago had the fewest goals against during the season . The Hawks would face the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL semi - finals , as Detroit finished fourth in the NHL with a record of 32 - 25 - 13 , earning 77 points , and only 4 behind Chicago . The series opened up at Chicago Stadium for the opening two games , and the Black Hawks took advantage , taking a 2 - 0 series lead a close 5 - 4 victory in the series opener , followed by a 5 - 2 win in the second game . The series shifted to the Detroit Olympia for the next two games , and the Red Wings responded , defeating the Black Hawks 4 - 2 and 4 - 1 to even the series up . Detroit continued their good play in the fifth game in Chicago , doubling the Hawks 4 - 2 to take a 3 - 2 series lead . The sixth game was played back in Detroit , and the Red Wings had no problems closing the series out , easily beating the Black Hawks 7 - 4 , as Chicago was eliminated in the NHL semi - finals for the first time since 1960 .