1975–76 Chicago Black Hawks season
1975–76 Chicago Black Hawks | |
---|---|
Smythe Division champions | |
Division | 1st Smythe |
Conference | 4th Campbell |
1975–76 record | 32–30–18 |
Home record | 17–15–8 |
Road record | 15–15–10 |
Goals for | 254 |
Goals against | 261 |
Team information | |
General manager | Tommy Ivan |
Coach | Billy Reay |
Captain | Pit Martin and Stan Mikita |
Alternate captains | None |
Arena | Chicago Stadium |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Pit Martin (32) |
Assists | Dale Tallon (47) |
Points | Pit Martin (71) |
Penalty minutes | Phil Russell (194) |
Plus/minus | Keith Magnuson (+13) |
Wins | Tony Esposito (30) |
Goals against average | Tony Esposito (2.97) |
The 1975–76 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 50th season in the NHL. During the previous season, the club had a 37–35–8 record, earning 82 points, and finished in third place in the Smythe Division. Then, the Black Hawks upset the heavily favored Boston Bruins in the NHL preliminary series before losing to the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL quarterfinals.[1]
Pit Martin and Stan Mikita were named co-captains for the season. The team had played without a captain, since 1969–70.
Chicago started off the 1975–76 regular season with a 10–4–11 record in their first 25 games and took the lead in the Smythe Division. The Hawks had a 15-game unbeaten streak (6–0–9) during that span. The team reached a peak of being ten games over .500 with a record of 21–11–16 through 48 games. Chicago then fell into a slump and found themselves under .500 with only four games left in the season, falling to 29–30–17. The club went unbeaten in their last four games (3–0–1) to finish the year with a 32–30–18 record, earning 82 points, which was enough to finish in first place in the Smythe Division. The Hawks 32 wins was their lowest toal since 1967–68, when they also won 32 games.[2]
Offensively, the Black Hawks were led by Pit Martin, who had a club high 32 goals and 71 points. Dennis Hull rebounded from a poor 1974–75 season to score 27 goals and 66 points. Ivan Boldirev scored 28 goals and 62 points. Defenseman Dale Tallon led the club with 47 assists, while scoring 15 goals for 62 points. Stan Mikita missed 32 games due to injuries; however, he still earned 57 points. Keith Magnuson had a team high +13 rating, and Phil Russell led the club with 194 penalty minutes.
In goal, Tony Esposito once again led the club with 30 victories and a 2.97 GAA, earning four shutouts in 68 games.[3]
Since the Hawks won their division, they were given a bye in the NHL preliminary series, and they faced the powerful Montreal Canadiens in the NHL quarter-finals. The Canadiens had a record breaking season in 1975–76 with 58 wins and 127 points and finished in first place in the Norris Division. The Black Hawks—Canadiens series opened with two games at the Montreal Forum. The Canadiens quickly took control of the series, shutting out Chicago 4–0 in the series opener, and then winning 3–1 in the second game. The series continued at Chicago Stadium for the next two games, where the Canadiens took the third game by a 2–1 score, and then swept the Hawks out of the playoffs with a 4–1 victory in the fourth game.
Season standings
[edit]Final standings
[edit]GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago Black Hawks | 80 | 32 | 30 | 18 | 254 | 261 | 82 |
Vancouver Canucks | 80 | 33 | 32 | 15 | 271 | 272 | 81 |
St. Louis Blues | 80 | 29 | 37 | 14 | 249 | 290 | 72 |
Minnesota North Stars | 80 | 20 | 53 | 7 | 195 | 303 | 47 |
Kansas City Scouts | 80 | 12 | 56 | 12 | 190 | 351 | 36 |
[4]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
Record vs. opponents
[edit]Smythe Division record vs. opponents
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Schedule and results
[edit]Regular season
[edit]1975–76 regular season[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October
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November
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December
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January
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February
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March
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April
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Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point) |
Playoffs
[edit]1976 Stanley Cup playoffs[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Quarterfinals vs. (1) Montreal Canadiens – Canadiens win 4–0
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Legend: Win Loss |
Season stats
[edit]Scoring leaders
[edit]Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pit Martin | 80 | 32 | 39 | 71 | 44 |
Dennis Hull | 80 | 29 | 39 | 68 | 28 |
Ivan Boldirev | 78 | 28 | 34 | 62 | 33 |
Dale Tallon | 80 | 15 | 47 | 62 | 101 |
Cliff Koroll | 80 | 25 | 33 | 58 | 29 |
Goaltending
[edit]Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | SO | GAA |
Tony Esposito | 68 | 4003 | 30 | 23 | 13 | 198 | 4 | 2.97 |
Gilles Villemure | 15 | 797 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 57 | 0 | 4.29 |
Playoff stats
[edit]Scoring leaders
[edit]Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
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Dick Redmond | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Darcy Rota | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Pit Martin | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Cliff Koroll | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Phil Russell | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
Goaltending
[edit]Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | SO | GAA |
Tony Esposito | 4 | 240 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 3.25 |
Awards, records and honors
[edit]Draft picks
[edit]Chicago's draft picks during the 1975 NHL Amateur Draft at the NHL Office in Montreal.
Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 7 | Greg Vaydik | ![]() |
Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL) |
2 | 25 | Danny Arndt | ![]() |
Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
3 | 43 | Mike O'Connell | ![]() |
Kingston Canadians (OHA) |
4 | 61 | Pierre Giroux | ![]() |
Hull Festivals (QMJHL) |
5 | 79 | Bob Hoffmeyer | ![]() |
Saskatoon Blades (WCHL) |
6 | 97 | Tom Ulseth | ![]() |
University of Wisconsin (NCAA) |
7 | 115 | Ted Bulley | ![]() |
Hull Festivals (QMJHL) |
8 | 141 | Paul Jensen | ![]() |
Michigan Tech (NCAA) |
References
[edit]- ^ 1974–75 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com
- ^ a b c "1975-76 Chicago Black Hawks Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
- ^ "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Tony Esposito". Archived from the original on February 17, 2008. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
- ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 151. ISBN 9781894801225.
- ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ Chicago Blackhawks 1975-76 roster and statistics hockeydb.com
- ^ Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009–10, p.424, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6
Sources
[edit]- Hockey-Reference
- Rauzulu's Street
- Goalies Archive[usurped]
- HockeyDB
- National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007