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1978–79 Chicago Black Hawks season

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1978–79 Chicago Black Hawks
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
Conference5th Campbell
1978–79 record29–36–15
Home record18–12–10
Road record11–24–5
Goals for244
Goals against277
Team information
General managerBob Pulford
CoachBob Pulford
CaptainKeith Magnuson
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsIvan Boldirev (29)
AssistsStan Mikita (36)
PointsIvan Boldirev (64)
Penalty minutesDave Logan (176)
Plus/minusTed Bulley (+17)
WinsTony Esposito (24)
Goals against averageTony Esposito (3.28)

The 1978–79 Chicago Black Hawks season was the 53rd season of operation of the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League. The club was coming off a first-place finish in the Smythe Division in 1977–78. In the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Black Hawks were swept by the Boston Bruins in four games in the quarter-finals.

Offseason

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The Black Hawks had a very quiet off-season, however, Chicago did acquire 21-year-old goaltender Murray Bannerman from the Vancouver Canucks to complete an earlier trade that sent Pit Martin to the Canucks. Bannerman spent the previous season with the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL, and did appear in a game with Vancouver, allowing no goals in a period of action.

In a couple of minor trades, Chicago traded away Pierre Plante to the Minnesota North Stars to complete an earlier deal, and in a separate trade, Chicago traded Thomas Gradin to the Vancouver Canucks for the Canucks second round draft pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft.

Regular season

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Chicago opened the season with a six-game unbeaten streak, going 3–0–3, before suffering their first loss. The Hawks would struggle after their hot start, as Chicago saw their record fall to 17-24-9 at the start of February, however, despite their poor record, the Black Hawks were in first place in the Smythe Division. The Black Hawks turned their fortunes around in their next 14 games, going 8–3–3, putting their record at 25–27–12, with 62 points, 14 ahead of the second place Vancouver Canucks. Chicago then fell into an eight-game winless streak (0–7–1), but still held a 10-point lead. Chicago then finished the season with a 29–36–15 record, earning 73 points, and winning the Smythe Division for the second season in a row, and seventh division title in the past ten seasons.

Offensively, the Black Hawks were led by Ivan Boldirev, who led the club with 29 goals and 64 points in 66 games. Stan Mikita had 19 goals and a team high 36 assists for 55 points to finish second in team scoring. Defenceman Bob Murray scored 19 goals and 51 points to lead the Black Hawks blueline. Defenceman Dave Logan had a team high 175 penalty minutes, while winger Ted Bulley led Chicago with a +18 rating.

In goal, Tony Esposito saw the majority of playing time, going 24-28-11 with a 3.27 GAA, while earning four shutouts.

Final standings

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Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Chicago Black Hawks 80 29 36 15 244 277 73
Vancouver Canucks 80 25 42 13 217 291 63
St. Louis Blues 80 18 50 12 249 348 48
Colorado Rockies 80 15 53 12 210 331 42

[1]

Record vs. opponents

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Smythe Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

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1978–79 regular season[3]
October
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
1 T October 11, 1978 4–4 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 0–0–1
2 T October 15, 1978 3–3 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 0–0–2
3 W October 18, 1978 4–2 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 1–0–2
4 W October 19, 1978 6–2 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 2–0–2
5 W October 22, 1978 6–5 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 3–0–2
6 T October 25, 1978 2–2 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 3–0–3
7 L October 28, 1978 2–7 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 3–1–3
8 W October 29, 1978 4–1 Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 4–1–3
November
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
9 L November 1, 1978 0–1 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 4–2–3
10 T November 4, 1978 5–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 4–2–4
11 W November 5, 1978 3–1 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 5–2–4
12 W November 8, 1978 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 6–2–4
13 L November 10, 1978 3–5 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 6–3–4
14 L November 12, 1978 1–4 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 6–4–4
15 L November 15, 1978 1–8 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 6–5–4
16 W November 16, 1978 4–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 7–5–4
17 L November 18, 1978 3–8 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 7–6–4
18 L November 20, 1978 3–4 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 7–7–4
19 L November 21, 1978 2–5 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 7–8–4
20 W November 25, 1978 8–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 8–8–4
21 T November 29, 1978 1–1 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 8–8–5
December
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
22 L December 2, 1978 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 8–9–5
23 W December 3, 1978 4–3 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 9–9–5
24 L December 7, 1978 2–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 9–10–5
25 W December 9, 1978 4–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 10–10–5
26 T December 10, 1978 3–3 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 10–10–6
27 L December 13, 1978 2–6 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 10–11–6
28 L December 14, 1978 2–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 10–12–6
29 L December 16, 1978 1–5 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 10–13–6
30 T December 17, 1978 3–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 10–13–7
31 L December 20, 1978 3–5 Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 10–14–7
32 L December 21, 1978 1–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1978–79) 10–15–7
33 W December 23, 1978 5–2 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 11–15–7
34 W December 27, 1978 4–3 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 12–15–7
35 L December 30, 1978 4–5 New York Rangers (1978–79) 12–16–7
January
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
36 L January 3, 1979 3–6 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 12–17–7
37 T January 4, 1979 3–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 12–17–8
38 W January 6, 1979 5–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 13–17–8
39 W January 7, 1979 5–3 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 14–17–8
40 W January 10, 1979 3–0 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 15–17–8
41 L January 13, 1979 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 15–18–8
42 W January 17, 1979 2–1 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 16–18–8
43 L January 19, 1979 1–6 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 16–19–8
44 L January 20, 1979 2–4 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 16–20–8
45 L January 22, 1979 1–2 New York Islanders (1978–79) 16–21–8
46 W January 24, 1979 5–0 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 17–21–8
47 L January 27, 1979 1–4 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 17–22–8
48 L January 28, 1979 2–7 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 17–23–8
49 T January 31, 1979 2–2 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 17–23–9
February
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
50 L February 1, 1979 1–6 @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) 17–24–9
51 W February 3, 1979 4–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 18–24–9
52 W February 4, 1979 5–4 New York Islanders (1978–79) 19–24–9
53 L February 12, 1979 2–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 19–25–9
54 T February 14, 1979 4–4 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 19–25–10
55 W February 17, 1979 5–1 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 20–25–10
56 W February 18, 1979 5–3 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 21–25–10
57 W February 21, 1979 3–2 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 22–25–10
58 W February 22, 1979 4–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 23–25–10
59 L February 24, 1979 1–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 23–26–10
60 T February 25, 1979 2–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 23–26–11
61 T February 28, 1979 4–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 23–26–12
March
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
62 W March 2, 1979 4–0 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 24–26–12
63 L March 3, 1979 5–8 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 24–27–12
64 W March 8, 1979 5–1 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 25–27–12
65 L March 10, 1979 1–7 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 25–28–12
66 L March 11, 1979 2–5 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 25–29–12
67 L March 14, 1979 0–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 25–30–12
68 L March 17, 1979 2–4 @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) 25–31–12
69 L March 18, 1979 2–4 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 25–32–12
70 L March 20, 1979 3–5 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 25–33–12
71 L March 21, 1979 6–7 New York Rangers (1978–79) 25–34–12
72 T March 24, 1979 3–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 25–34–13
73 W March 25, 1979 3–0 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 26–34–13
74 T March 27, 1979 1–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 26–34–14
75 W March 29, 1979 6–1 New York Islanders (1978–79) 27–34–14
April
Game Result Date Score Opponent Record
76 T April 1, 1979 2–2 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 27–34–15
77 L April 3, 1979 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 27–35–15
78 W April 4, 1979 7–1 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 28–35–15
79 L April 7, 1979 1–4 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 28–36–15
80 W April 8, 1979 3–2 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 29–36–15

Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

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Since the Hawks won their division, they were given a bye in the NHL preliminary round, and advanced straight to the NHL quarter-finals. Their first round opponent was the New York Islanders, who finished with the best record in the NHL, going 51–15–14, earning 116 points and winning the Patrick Division. The series opened with two games at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, New York, with the Islanders, led by a Mike Bossy hat trick, easily defeated Chicago 6–2. The second game was decided in overtime, after the two teams played through three scoreless periods. The Islanders Mike Bossy scored his fourth goal of the series in overtime to give New York the 1–0 victory, and a 2–0 series lead. Black Hawks goaltender Tony Esposito made 39 saves in the loss, while Islanders goaltender Billy Smith stopped all 22 shots he faced. The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next two games. In the third game, the Islanders once again shutout the Black Hawks, this time with goaltender Chico Resch making 21 saves for the shutout, as New York defeated the Hawks 4–0 to take a 3–0 series lead. The Islanders would complete the sweep in the fourth game, winning 3–1, and sending the Blackhawks to their sixteenth consecutive playoff loss.

1979 Stanley Cup playoffs[3]
Preliminary round vs. (N4) New York Islanders – Islanders win 4–0
Game Date Visitor Score Home Series
1 April 16 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 New York Islanders 0–1
2 April 18 Chicago Black Hawks 0–1 New York Islanders 0–2
3 April 20 New York Islanders 4–0 Chicago Black Hawks 0–3
4 April 22 New York Islanders 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks 0–4

Legend:   Win   Loss

Player stats

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Ivan Boldirev C 66 29 35 64 25 7 10 0 4
Stan Mikita C/RW 65 19 36 55 34 3 4 0 1
Bob Murray D 79 19 32 51 38 4 4 1 0
Ted Bulley LW 75 27 23 50 153 18 1 0 8
John Marks LW 80 21 24 45 35 2 4 0 2
Reg Kerr LW 73 16 24 40 50 -7 2 2 4
J.P. Bordeleau RW 63 15 21 36 34 -7 2 1 2
Grant Mulvey RW 80 19 15 34 99 -14 5 0 1
Cliff Koroll RW 78 12 19 31 20 3 1 2 2
Phil Russell D 66 8 23 31 122 -7 1 1 1
Darcy Rota LW 63 13 17 30 77 -10 1 0 1
Doug Wilson D 56 5 21 26 37 4 2 1 0
Mike O'Connell D 48 4 22 26 20 -1 1 0 0
Alain Daigle RW 74 11 14 25 55 2 0 0 0
Tim Higgins RW 36 7 16 23 30 6 0 0 1
Dave Logan D 76 1 14 15 176 -9 0 0 0
Tom Lysiak C 14 0 10 10 14 3 0 0 0
Mike Walton C 26 6 3 9 4 -4 3 0 1
Jim Harrison C 21 4 5 9 22 -6 0 0 0
Doug Hicks D 44 1 8 9 15 -12 0 0 0
Bob Kelly LW 63 2 5 7 85 -10 0 0 0
Keith Magnuson D 26 1 4 5 41 -4 0 0 0
Greg Fox D 14 0 5 5 16 9 0 0 0
Bobby Orr D 6 2 2 4 4 2 0 0 0
Pat Ribble D 12 1 3 4 8 7 0 0 1
Harold Phillipoff LW 14 0 4 4 6 -4 0 0 0
Bob Hoffmeyer D 6 0 2 2 5 -4 0 0 0
Doug Lecuyer LW 2 1 0 1 0 -1 0 0 0
Tony Esposito G 63 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Jean Savard C 11 0 1 1 9 -2 0 0 0
Mike Veisor G 17 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Miles Zaharko D 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Tony Esposito 3780 63 24 28 11 206 3.27 4
Mike Veisor 1020 17 5 8 4 60 3.53 0
Team: 4800 80 29 36 15 266 3.32 4

Playoffs

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Reg Kerr LW 4 1 0 1 5 0 0 0
Bob Murray D 4 1 0 1 6 0 0 0
Mike Walton C 4 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
J. P. Bordeleau RW 4 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Greg Fox D 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Rick Paterson C 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Harold Phillipoff LW 4 0 1 1 7 0 0 0
Kirk Bowman LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ted Bulley LW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alain Daigle RW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tony Esposito G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tim Higgins RW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Bob Kelly LW 4 0 0 0 9 0 0 0
Cliff Koroll RW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Dave Logan D 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Tom Lysiak C 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
John Marks LW 4 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Grant Mulvey RW 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Mike O'Connell D 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Pat Ribble D 4 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Tony Esposito 243 4 0 4 14 3.46 0
Team: 243 4 0 4 14 3.46 0

[4]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

Awards and records

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Transactions

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Draft picks

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Chicago's draft picks at the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 10 Tim Higgins  Canada Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)
2 29 Doug Lecuyer  Canada Portland Winterhawks (WCHL)
3 46 Rick Paterson  Canada Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
4 63 Brian Young  Canada New Westminster Bruins (WCHL)
5 79 Mark Murphy  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
6 96 Dave Feamster  United States Colorado College (WCHA)
7 113 Dave Mancuso  Canada Windsor Spitfires (OMJHL)
8 130 Sandy Ross  Canada Colgate University (ECAC)
9 147 Mark Locken  Canada Niagara Falls Flyers (OMJHL)
10 164 Glenn Van  United States Colorado College (WCHA)
11 179 Darryl Sutter  Canada Lethbridge Broncos (WCHL)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 163, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ a b "1978-79 Chicago Black Hawks Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2025.
  4. ^ "1978-79 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
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