1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 27th season in the NHL, and they were coming off of two consecutive seasons of finishing in last place in the six team NHL. The Black Hawks had a record of 17–44–9 in 1951–52, missing the playoffs for the sixth straight season. In 1952–53, the Black Hawks qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Montreal Canadiens.

1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks
Division4th NHL
1952–53 record27–28–15
Home record14–11–10
Road record13–17–5
Goals for169
Goals against175
Team information
General ManagerBill Tobin
CoachSid Abel
CaptainBill Gadsby
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsJim McFadden (23)
AssistsCal Gardner (24)
PointsJim McFadden (44)
Penalty minutesGeorge Gee (99)
WinsAl Rollins (27)
Goals against averageAl Rollins (2.50)

Off-season

In the off-season, the Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs completed a trade which sent Harry Lumley to Toronto for Al Rollins, Cal Gardner and Gus Mortson. Chicago also fired head coach Ebbie Goodfellow, and replaced him with Sid Abel, who would be a player-coach. Abel would name defenceman Bill Gadsby as the new team captain.

Chicago also saw a change in ownership, as Arthur Wirtz and James D. Norris took over the struggling and near bankrupt franchise.

Regular season

The Black Hawks started the season off strong, sitting with a 10–5–3 record in their first 18 games, however, the club would fall into a slump, and went 2–7–5 in their next 14 games to fall to .500. Chicago would continue to hover around the .500 for the rest of the season, battling with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot. Going into the final weekend of the season, Chicago would earn big wins against the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers to clinch the fourth and final playoff spot, and advance to the playoffs for the first time since 1946. The Hawks finished with club records in wins with 27, and points with 69.

Offensively, the team was led by Jim McFadden, who scored a team high 23 goals and 44 points, while newly acquired Cal Gardner earned a club best 24 assists, en route to earning 35 points. Jimmy Peters would join McFadden as the only Hawks with over 20 goals and 40 points, as he scored 22 and 41 respectively. George Gee scored 18 goals and 39 points, while posting a team high 99 penalty minutes. Team captain Bill Gadsby led the defense with 22 points, while fellow blueliner Al Dewsbury scored 5 goals, and finished with 97 penalty minutes.

In goal, Al Rollins played in all 70 games, setting a team record with 27 victories, along with a solid 2.50 GAA, and 6 shutouts.

Season standings
National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Detroit Red Wings70361618222133+8990
2Montreal Canadiens70282319155148+775
3Boston Bruins70282913152172−2069
4Chicago Black Hawks70272815169175−669
5Toronto Maple Leafs70273013156167−1167
6New York Rangers70173716152211−5950

Record vs. opponents
1952–53 NHL Records
Team BOS CHI DET MON NYR TOR
Boston —4–5–52–10–29–2–35–7–28–5–1
Chicago 5–4–5—3–9–23–7–410–3–16–6–2
Detroit 10–2–29–3–2—4–4–67–3–47–4–3
Montreal 2–9–37–3–44–4–6—7–2–57–5–2
New York 7–5–23–10–13–7–42–7–5—2–8–4
Toronto 5–8–16–6–24–7–35–7–28–2–4—

Playoffs

The Black Hawks would face the second place Montreal Canadiens in a best of seven opening round series. The Canadiens finished the year with a 28–23–19 record, earning 75 points, which was six more than the Hawks. The series opened up at the Montreal Forum, and the favored Canadiens won the series opener by a 3–1 score, then took a 2–0 series lead by winning a close second game by a 4–3 score. The series shifted to Chicago for the next two games, and the Black Hawks would respond, winning the third game in overtime to cut the series lead to 2–1, as the team won their first playoff game since 1944. The Hawks evened the series up at 2–2 with a 3–1 win in the fourth game, sending the series back to Montreal. Chicago stunned the Montreal crowd in the fifth game, defeating the Canadiens 4–2 to take a 3–2 series lead. The Canadiens, though, would shut out Chicago 3–0 in the sixth game, setting up a seventh and final game. Montreal would easily win the game, defeating the Black Hawks 4–1, putting an end to a very surprising season for the Black Hawks.

Schedule and results

Regular season
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 9Chicago Black Hawks3–2Montreal Canadiens1–0–02
2October 11Chicago Black Hawks6–2Toronto Maple Leafs2–0–04
3October 12New York Rangers0–2Chicago Black Hawks3–0–06
4October 14Detroit Red Wings1–1Chicago Black Hawks3–0–17
5October 16Chicago Black Hawks0–7Detroit Red Wings3–1–17
6October 19Toronto Maple Leafs3–2Chicago Black Hawks3–2–17
7October 23Montreal Canadiens2–2Chicago Black Hawks3–2–28
8October 26Boston Bruins1–1Chicago Black Hawks3–2–39
9October 29Chicago Black Hawks3–1New York Rangers4–2–311
10October 30New York Rangers3–8Chicago Black Hawks5–2–313
11November 2Boston Bruins1–4Chicago Black Hawks6–2–315
12November 8Chicago Black Hawks4–6Montreal Canadiens6–3–315
13November 9Chicago Black Hawks1–4Boston Bruins6–4–315
14November 12Chicago Black Hawks2–5New York Rangers6–5–315
15November 13New York Rangers2–6Chicago Black Hawks7–5–317
16November 15Chicago Black Hawks3–1Toronto Maple Leafs8–5–319
17November 16Montreal Canadiens1–4Chicago Black Hawks9–5–321
18November 20Boston Bruins1–3Chicago Black Hawks10–5–323
19November 22Chicago Black Hawks1–10Detroit Red Wings10–6–323
20November 23Detroit Red Wings0–3Chicago Black Hawks11–6–325
21November 27Toronto Maple Leafs3–3Chicago Black Hawks11–6–426
22November 29Chicago Black Hawks1–1Montreal Canadiens11–6–527
23November 30New York Rangers1–1Chicago Black Hawks11–6–628
24December 3Chicago Black Hawks5–3New York Rangers12–6–630
25December 4Chicago Black Hawks1–5Boston Bruins12–7–630
26December 6Detroit Red Wings2–0Chicago Black Hawks12–8–630
27December 7Toronto Maple Leafs2–0Chicago Black Hawks12–9–630
28December 11Montreal Canadiens3–2Chicago Black Hawks12–10–630
29December 13Chicago Black Hawks0–3Montreal Canadiens12–11–630
30December 14Chicago Black Hawks2–2Boston Bruins12–11–731
31December 18Boston Bruins3–3Chicago Black Hawks12–11–832
32December 20Chicago Black Hawks1–4Toronto Maple Leafs12–12–832
33December 21Toronto Maple Leafs2–4Chicago Black Hawks13–12–834
34December 25Chicago Black Hawks3–3Detroit Red Wings13–12–935
35December 28Chicago Black Hawks6–3New York Rangers14–12–937
36January 1Montreal Canadiens2–2Chicago Black Hawks14–12–1038
37January 3Chicago Black Hawks1–1Toronto Maple Leafs14–12–1139
38January 4Chicago Black Hawks3–5Detroit Red Wings14–13–1139
39January 7Chicago Black Hawks6–4New York Rangers15–13–1141
40January 10Chicago Black Hawks2–5Montreal Canadiens15–14–1141
41January 11Chicago Black Hawks4–2Boston Bruins16–14–1143
42January 14Chicago Black Hawks0–3Toronto Maple Leafs16–15–1143
43January 15Montreal Canadiens2–0Chicago Black Hawks16–16–1143
44January 18New York Rangers0–2Chicago Black Hawks17–16–1145
45January 22Chicago Black Hawks3–3Boston Bruins17–16–1246
46January 24Chicago Black Hawks5–1Montreal Canadiens18–16–1248
47January 25Toronto Maple Leafs4–3Chicago Black Hawks18–17–1248
48January 29Detroit Red Wings5–2Chicago Black Hawks18–18–1248
49January 31Chicago Black Hawks0–4Detroit Red Wings18–19–1248
50February 1New York Rangers1–0Chicago Black Hawks18–20–1248
51February 5Chicago Black Hawks1–4Boston Bruins18–21–1248
52February 7Chicago Black Hawks4–2Toronto Maple Leafs19–21–1250
53February 8Toronto Maple Leafs2–4Chicago Black Hawks20–21–1252
54February 12Montreal Canadiens3–2Chicago Black Hawks20–22–1252
55February 15Detroit Red Wings4–1Chicago Black Hawks20–23–1252
56February 16Chicago Black Hawks1–3Detroit Red Wings20–24–1252
57February 19New York Rangers4–2Chicago Black Hawks20–25–1252
58February 22Boston Bruins0–2Chicago Black Hawks21–25–1254
59February 27Boston Bruins0–3Chicago Black Hawks22–25–1256
60March 1Boston Bruins2–2Chicago Black Hawks22–25–1357
61March 4Chicago Black Hawks4–1New York Rangers23–25–1359
62March 5Toronto Maple Leafs1–3Chicago Black Hawks24–25–1361
63March 7Chicago Black Hawks0–1Montreal Canadiens24–26–1361
64March 8Chicago Black Hawks1–2Boston Bruins24–27–1361
65March 12Montreal Canadiens2–2Chicago Black Hawks24–27–1462
66March 14Chicago Black Hawks3–1Detroit Red Wings25–27–1464
67March 15Detroit Red Wings0–0Chicago Black Hawks25–27–1565
68March 18Chicago Black Hawks3–4Toronto Maple Leafs25–28–1565
69March 21Detroit Red Wings3–4Chicago Black Hawks26–28–1567
70March 22Chicago Black Hawks3–1New York Rangers27–28–1569

Playoffs
Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 3
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 24Chicago Black Hawks1–3Montreal Canadiens0–1
2March 26Chicago Black Hawks3–4Montreal Canadiens0–2
3March 29Montreal Canadiens1–2Chicago Black Hawks1–2
4March 31Montreal Canadiens1–3Chicago Black Hawks2–2
5April 2Chicago Black Hawks4–2Montreal Canadiens3–2
6April 4Montreal Canadiens3–0Chicago Black Hawks3–3
7April 7Chicago Black Hawks1–4Montreal Canadiens3–4

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Jim McFadden7023214429
Jimmy Peters6922194116
George Gee6718213999
Gerry Couture7019183722
Bill Mosienko651720378

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Al Rollins70420027281517562.50

Playoff

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Bill Mosienko74267
Jim McFadden73034
George Gee71236
Al Dewsbury71234
Gus Mortson71126

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Al Rollins7425341802.54

Roster
1952–53 Chicago Black Hawks
Goaltenders

Defensemen

Wingers

Centers

References
  1. "Standings: 1952–1953". National Hockey League. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  2. listed elsewhere as #18 - Impossible. McFadden, also listed as #18, team's top scorer, played all 70 games. Game program Maple Leaf Gardens, Sat.Feb.7,1953 shows a fan's handwritten notation "14 McBurney". #14 was randomly used by 'call ups', see Finney, Sclisizzi, Glover above. McBurney played just one game, scoring an assist.

Sources
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