1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 12th season in the NHL. They were attempting to bounce off a horrible 1936–37 season, in which the club failed to qualify for the playoffs. In the off-season, the team would replace head coach Clem Loughlin with Bill Stewart. The Black Hawks would struggle again in 1937–38, finishing with 37 points with a 14–25–9 record, but managed to earn a playoff spot by finishing two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings and clinch third place in the American Division. They would score an NHL low 97 goals, while giving up the 2nd most goals in the league at 139. The Hawks were a .500 team at home with a 10–10–4 record, but would only have a record of 4–15–5 on the road.

1937–38 Chicago Black Hawks
Stanley Cup champions
Division	3rd American
1937–38 record	14–25–9
Home record	10–10–4
Road record	4–15–5
Goals for	97
Goals against	139
Team information
General manager	Frederic McLaughlin
Coach	Bill Stewart
Captain	Johnny Gottselig
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals	Paul Thompson (22)
Assists	Paul Thompson and Doc Romnes (22)
Points	Paul Thompson (44)
Penalty minutes	Earl Seibert (38)
Wins	Mike Karakas (14)
Goals against average	Mike Karakas (2.80)
← 1936–37 1938–39 →

Paul Thompson would lead the Hawks offensively, setting a club record with 44 points, along with a club high 22 goals, and tying Doc Romnes for the team lead with 22 assists. Johnny Gottselig would have another solid season, earning 32 points, tying Romnes for 2nd on the team scoring list. Earl Seibert would lead the defense with 21 points, and had a club high 38 penalty minutes.

In goal, Mike Karakas would win 14 games, earn a shutout and post a 2.80 GAA.

In the playoffs, the Black Hawks would face the Montreal Canadiens in the 1st round in a best-of-three series. The underdog Hawks would surprise Montreal, winning the best-of three series in the full three games, clinching the series with a 3–2 OT victory at the Montreal Forum. After losing Game One to Montreal, the Hawks were less than 90 seconds away from being eliminated in the quarterfinals, but managed to tie Game Two late in the third period. Chicago won the crucial game in overtime. Next up would be the New York Americans, who finished 2nd in the Canadian Division, and had 12 more points than the Hawks in the regular season. In a best-of-three semi-final series, the Black Hawks again lost the first game of the series and were on the verge of elimination in Game Two but won it in overtime. The Black Hawks would stun the favored Americans, winning the Game Three to win the series 2–1 and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Hawks opponent would be the Toronto Maple Leafs, who had just swept the best team in the regular season, the Boston Bruins, in a best-of-five semi-final series featuring the champions of the NHL's two divisions.

Due to an injury to goaltender Mike Karakas, the Black Hawks would get permission by the Leafs to use goaltender Alfie Moore, who spent the season with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the IAHL in the first game, and he responded by helping the Black Hawks win the game 3–1. In the 2nd game, Karakas was still unavailable, and Chicago would call up Paul Goodman from the Wichita Skyhawks of the AHA. The Maple Leafs would even up the series with a 5–1 victory. The Black Hawks would get Karakas back into the lineup for the 3rd game, and he helped the Hawks to a 2–1 victory. Chicago would then wrap up the series in the 4th game, winning by a score of 4–1 to earn its 2nd Stanley Cup in team history, shocking the hockey world.

Season standings

American Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Boston Bruins	48	30	11	7	142	89	67
New York Rangers	48	27	15	6	149	96	60
Chicago Black Hawks	48	14	25	9	97	139	37
Detroit Red Wings	48	12	25	11	99	133	35

^[1]

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Vs. American Division 1937–38 NHL records^[2] Team BOS CHI DET NYR Total Boston — 6–2 5–2–1 5–3 16–7–1 Chicago 2–6 — 3–4–1 3–4–1 6–14–2 Detroit 2–5–1 4–3–1 — 1–6–1 7–14–3 N.Y. Rangers 3–5 4–3–1 6–1–1 — 13–9–2

Vs. Canadian Division 1937–38 NHL records Team MTL MTM NYA TOR Total Boston 2–2–2 4–0–2 3–1–2 2–2–2 11–5–8 Chicago 1–3–2 4–2 0–4–2 1–2–3 6–11–7 Detroit 3–2–1 0–3–3 2–2–2 0–4–2 5–11–8 N.Y. Rangers 1–3–2 5–0–1 4–1–1 4–2 14–6–4

Game log

Regular season

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	November 4	New York Americans	3–0	Chicago Black Hawks	0–1–0	0
2	November 9	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2	Montreal Canadiens	0–1–1	1
3	November 11	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1	New York Rangers	1–1–1	3
4	November 13	Chicago Black Hawks	3–7	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–2–1	3
5	November 14	Toronto Maple Leafs	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2–2	4
6	November 18	Detroit Red Wings	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2–2	6
7	November 21	Boston Bruins	2–1	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3–2	6
8	November 25	Chicago Black Hawks	1–4	Detroit Red Wings	2–4–2	6
9	November 27	Chicago Black Hawks	0–4	New York Americans	2–5–2	6
10	November 30	Chicago Black Hawks	0–1	Montreal Maroons	2–6–2	6
11	December 2	New York Rangers	1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	3–6–2	8
12	December 5	Montreal Canadiens	3–2	Chicago Black Hawks	3–7–2	8
13	December 12	Montreal Maroons	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	4–7–2	10
14	December 16	Detroit Red Wings	1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	5–7–2	12
15	December 19	New York Americans	1–0	Chicago Black Hawks	5–8–2	12
16	December 21	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2	Boston Bruins	5–9–2	12
17	December 26	Chicago Black Hawks	3–1	New York Rangers	6–9–2	14
18	December 30	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2	Detroit Red Wings	6–9–3	15
19	January 2	Montreal Canadiens	4–2	Chicago Black Hawks	6–10–3	15
20	January 6	New York Rangers	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks	6–11–3	15
21	January 9	Montreal Maroons	0–1	Chicago Black Hawks	7–11–3	17
22	January 11	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1	New York Americans	7–11–4	18
23	January 13	Chicago Black Hawks	2–2	Montreal Canadiens	7–11–5	19
24	January 15	Chicago Black Hawks	4–4	Toronto Maple Leafs	7–11–6	20
25	January 16	Toronto Maple Leafs	7–2	Chicago Black Hawks	7–12–6	20
26	January 18	Chicago Black Hawks	1–5	Boston Bruins	7–13–6	20
27	January 20	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4	Detroit Red Wings	7–14–6	20
28	January 23	Boston Bruins	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	8–14–6	22
29	January 27	Detroit Red Wings	3–4	Chicago Black Hawks	9–14–6	24
30	January 30	New York Rangers	2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	9–14–7	25
31	February 1	Chicago Black Hawks	1–6	New York Rangers	9–15–7	25
32	February 3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4	Montreal Maroons	9–16–7	25
33	February 6	Boston Bruins	7–2	Chicago Black Hawks	9–17–7	25
34	February 8	Chicago Black Hawks	1–3	Boston Bruins	9–18–7	25
35	February 10	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2	Montreal Maroons	9–19–7	25
36	February 12	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1	Toronto Maple Leafs	10–19–7	27
37	February 13	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–1	Chicago Black Hawks	10–19–8	28
38	February 17	New York Americans	3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	10–19–9	29
39	February 20	Detroit Red Wings	1–0	Chicago Black Hawks	10–20–9	29
40	February 22	Chicago Black Hawks	6–5	Montreal Maroons	11–20–9	31
41	February 24	Chicago Black Hawks	3–6	New York Rangers	11–21–9	31
42	February 27	New York Rangers	4–1	Chicago Black Hawks	11–22–9	31
43	March 3	Boston Bruins	2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	12–22–9	33
44	March 6	Montreal Maroons	1–7	Chicago Black Hawks	13–22–9	35
45	March 10	Montreal Canadiens	1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	14–22–9	37
46	March 13	Chicago Black Hawks	1–5	Detroit Red Wings	14–23–9	37
47	March 15	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2	New York Americans	14–24–9	37
48	March 20	Chicago Black Hawks	1–6	Boston Bruins	14–25–9	37

Playoffs

Black Hawks 2, Canadiens 1

NHL quarter-finals

(C3) Montreal Canadiens vs. (A3) Chicago Black Hawks

March 22	Chicago Black Hawks		4 – 6		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
Thompson (1) – (March, Romnes) – 1:31		First period			10:58 – Siebert (1) – (Haynes, Gagnon)
March (1) – (Siebert) – 12:23		Second period			13:38 – pp – Blake (1) – (Siebert), Gagnon) 18:45 – Goupille (1) – (Unassisted)
Gottselig (1) – (Romnes, March) – 9:30 Dahlstrom (1) – (Jenkins, Shill) – 11:51		Third period			11:32 – Blake (2) – (Gagnon, Haynes) 17:32 – Blake (3) – (Unassisted) 18:40 – Goupille – (Haynes)
Karakas (0-1)		Goalie stats			Cude (1-0)

March 24	Montreal Canadiens		0 – 4		Chicago Black Hawks	Chicago Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			17:58 – Siebert (1) – (Unassisted)
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			10:06 – Siebert (2) – (Unassisted) 13:34 – Gottselig (1) – (Voss, Jenkins) 19:59 – Thompson (1) – (March, Voss)
Cude (1-1)		Goalie stats			Karakas (1-1)

March 26	Chicago Black Hawks		3 – 2	OT	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal Forum	Recap
Gottselig (3) – (MacKenzie) – 18:24		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			8:52 – Gagnon (1) – (Blake, Haynes)
Siebert (3) – (Gottselig) – 18:34		Third period			12:46 – pp – Mantha (1) – (Unassisted)
Thompson (3) – (Trudel) – 11:49		First overtime period			No scoring
Karakas (2-1)		Goalie stats			Cude (1-2)

Chicago wins series 2 – 1

Black Hawks 2, Americans 1

NHL semi-finals

(C2) New York Americans vs. (A3) Chicago Black Hawks

March 29	Chicago Black Hawks		1 – 3		New York Americans	Madison Square Garden	Recap
Voss (1) – (Jenkins) – 5:19		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			16:47 – Stewart (2) – (Carr, Anderson)
No scoring		Third period			15:52 – Sorrell (4) – (Beattie, Smith) 19:08 – pp – Schriner (1) – (Anderson)
Karakas (2-2)		Goalie stats			Robertson (3-1)

March 31	New York Americans		0 – 1	2OT	Chicago Black Hawks	Chicago Stadium	Recap
No scoring		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			No scoring
No scoring		Third period			No scoring
No scoring		Second overtime period			13:01 – Dahlstrom (2) – (Trudel)
Robertson (3-2)		Goalie stats			Karakas (3-2)

April 3	Chicago Black Hawks		3 – 2		New York Americans	Madison Square Garden	Recap
No scoring		First period			19:40 pp – Carr (3) – (Stewart, Anderson)
Siebert (4) – (Jenkins, Wiebe) – 14:53 Levinsky (1) – (Shill) – 17:43		Second period			No scoring
Romnes (1) – (Thompson) – 15:53		Third period			16:29 – Beattie (2) – (Smith, Anderson)
Karakas (4-2)		Goalie stats			Robertson (3-3)

Chicago wins series 2 – 1

Black Hawks 3, Maple Leafs 1

Stanley Cup finals

(C1) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (A3) Chicago Black Hawks

April 5	Chicago Black Hawks		3 – 1		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Gottselig (4) – pp – (Dahlstrom, Romnes) – 19:08		First period			1:54 – Drillon (4) – (Davidson)
Thompson (4) – (Siebert) – 1:51		Second period			No scoring
Gottselig (5) – (Unassisted) – 12:08		Third period			No scoring
Moore (1-0)		Goalie stats			Broda (3-1)

April 7	Chicago Black Hawks		1 – 5		Toronto Maple Leafs	Maple Leaf Gardens	Recap
Siebert (5) – pp – (Unassisted) – 8:31		First period			1:42 – Drillon (5) – (Apps)
No scoring		Second period			6:10 – Jackson (1) – (Thoms)
No scoring		Third period			9:44 – Drillon (6) – (Apps, Hamilton) 11:29 – Parsons (2) – (Kelly, Fowler) 12:08 – Parsons (3) – (Kelly, Horner)
Goodman (0-1)		Goalie stats			Broda (4-1)

April 10	Toronto Maple Leafs		1 – 2		Chicago Black Hawks	Chicago Stadium	Recap
Apps (1) – pp – (Drillon, Davidson) – 1:35		First period			No scoring
No scoring		Second period			16:02 – Voss (2) – (Jenkins, Gottselig)
No scoring		Third period			15:55 – Romnes (2) – (March, Thompson)
Broda (4-2)		Goalie stats			Karakas (5-2)

April 12	Toronto Maple Leafs		1 – 4		Chicago Black Hawks	Chicago Stadium	Recap
Drillon (7) – (Fowler) – 8:26		First period			5:52 – Dahlstrom (3) – (Shill, Trudel)
No scoring		Second period			16:45 – Voss (3) – (Gottselig, Jenkins) 17:58 – Shill (1) – (Unassisted)
No scoring		Third period			16:24 – March (2) – (Romnes, Thompson)
Broda (4-3)		Goalie stats			Karakas (6-2)

Chicago wins series 3 – 1

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Paul Thompson	48	22	22	44	14
Johnny Gottselig	48	13	19	32	22
Doc Romnes	44	10	22	32	4
Mush March	42	11	17	28	16
Louis Trudel	42	6	16	22	15

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Mike Karakas	48	2980	14	25	9	139	1	2.80

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Johnny Gottselig	10	5	3	8	4
Earl Seibert	10	5	2	7	12
Paul Thompson	10	4	3	7	6
Mush March	9	2	4	6	0
Doc Romnes	10	2	4	6	2

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Alfie Moore	1	60	1	0	1	0	1.00
Mike Karakas	8	525	6	2	15	2	1.71
Paul Goodman	1	60	0	1	5	0	5.00

References

1. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007