1945–46 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1945–46 Chicago Black Hawks season was the teams 20th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off a disappointing season in 1944–45, failing to qualify for the playoffs.

1945–46 Chicago Blackhawks
Division3rd NHL
1945–46 record23–20–7
Home record15–5–5
Road record8–12–2
Goals for200
Goals against178
Team information
General ManagerBill Tobin
CoachJohnny Gottselig
CaptainJohn Mariucci
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsMax Bentley (31)
AssistsBill Mosienko and Max Bentley (30)
PointsMax Bentley (61)
Penalty minutesJohn Mariucci (58)
WinsMike Karakas (22)
Goals against averageMike Karakas (3.46)

With Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, and Red Hamill returning to the team after World War II, the Black Hawks would set a team record by scoring 200 goals, which also led the NHL. The Hawks allowed 178, which ranked them 4th. The Hawks would finish the season with a 23–20–7 record, good for 53 points, which was their highest total since the 1934–35 season, and they would finish in 3rd place in the NHL.

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Max Bentley, who scored a team high 31 goals, and had an NHL high 61 points, while winning the Hart Trophy. Clint Smith had a solid season, registering 50 points, while Bill Mosienko would have 48. Doug Bentley missed 14 games due to injuries, but still finished with 40 points. Team captain John Mariucci would lead the Hawks defensemen with 11 points, and have a team high 58 penalty minutes.

In goal, Mike Karakas would get a majority of the action, earning a career high 22 wins, while posting a 3.46 GAA and a shutout along the way.

The 3rd seeded Hawks would face the 1st place team, the Montreal Canadiens, in a best of 7 series in the opening round of the playoffs. Montreal finished 8 points ahead of the Hawks, and had recently swept Chicago in the 1944 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens once again proved to be too much for the Hawks to handle, as they blew out the Hawks in each of the 4 games they played to sweep the series.

Season standings
National Hockey League[1]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens5028175172134+3861
2Boston Bruins5024188167156+1156
3Chicago Black Hawks5023207200178+2253
4Detroit Red Wings50202010146159−1350
5Toronto Maple Leafs5019247174185−1145
6New York Rangers5013289144191−4735

Record vs. opponents
1945–46 NHL Records
Team BOS CHI DET MON NYR TOR
Boston —4–64–3–34–5–16–3–16–1–3
Chicago 6–4—3–4–34–5–15–2–35–5
Detroit 3–4–34–3–3—6–3–14–4–23–6–1
Montreal 5–4–15–4–13–6–1—8–1–17–2–1
New York 3–6–12–5–34–4–21–8–1—3–5–2
Toronto 1–6–35–56–3–12–7–15–3–2—

Game log

Regular season
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 24Chicago Black Hawks5–4Boston Bruins1–0–02
2October 27Chicago Black Hawks4–8Montreal Canadiens1–1–02
3October 31New York Rangers1–5Chicago Black Hawks2–1–04
4November 4Toronto Maple Leafs4–7Chicago Black Hawks3–1–06
5November 8Chicago Black Hawks5–4New York Rangers4–1–08
6November 10Chicago Black Hawks2–3Toronto Maple Leafs4–2–08
7November 11Toronto Maple Leafs3–5Chicago Black Hawks5–2–010
8November 15Chicago Black Hawks2–5Detroit Red Wings5–3–010
9November 18Detroit Red Wings5–3Chicago Black Hawks5–4–010
10November 22New York Rangers3–3Chicago Black Hawks5–4–111
11November 25Montreal Canadiens1–5Chicago Black Hawks6–4–113
12December 1Chicago Black Hawks8–2Toronto Maple Leafs7–4–115
13December 2Toronto Maple Leafs5–3Chicago Black Hawks7–5–115
14December 5Chicago Black Hawks3–6Boston Bruins7–6–115
15December 9Boston Bruins3–8Chicago Black Hawks8–6–117
16December 13Chicago Black Hawks7–4New York Rangers9–6–119
17December 16Detroit Red Wings4–6Chicago Black Hawks10–6–121
18December 19Montreal Canadiens4–4Chicago Black Hawks10–6–222
19December 22Chicago Black Hawks6–4Detroit Red Wings11–6–224
20December 23Detroit Red Wings4–4Chicago Black Hawks11–6–325
21December 29Chicago Black Hawks5–4Montreal Canadiens12–6–327
22December 30Chicago Black Hawks2–3New York Rangers12–7–327
23January 1Toronto Maple Leafs1–3Chicago Black Hawks13–7–329
24January 5Chicago Black Hawks3–0Toronto Maple Leafs14–7–331
25January 6Chicago Black Hawks2–3Detroit Red Wings14–8–331
26January 12Chicago Black Hawks3–4Boston Bruins14–9–331
27January 13Chicago Black Hawks2–3New York Rangers14–10–331
28January 16Chicago Black Hawks2–1Montreal Canadiens15–10–333
29January 20New York Rangers1–9Chicago Black Hawks16–10–335
30January 23Montreal Canadiens2–7Chicago Black Hawks17–10–337
31January 26Chicago Black Hawks5–6Toronto Maple Leafs17–11–337
32January 27Boston Bruins1–4Chicago Black Hawks18–11–339
33January 30Chicago Black Hawks3–4Boston Bruins18–12–339
34February 3Boston Bruins1–3Chicago Black Hawks19–12–341
35February 6New York Rangers2–6Chicago Black Hawks20–12–343
36February 9Chicago Black Hawks2–6Montreal Canadiens20–13–343
37February 10Chicago Black Hawks2–2New York Rangers20–13–444
38February 13Montreal Canadiens5–1Chicago Black Hawks20–14–444
39February 16Chicago Black Hawks3–3Detroit Red Wings20–14–545
40February 17Detroit Red Wings2–2Chicago Black Hawks20–14–646
41February 20Boston Bruins3–4Chicago Black Hawks21–14–648
42February 24New York Rangers2–2Chicago Black Hawks21–14–749
43March 2Chicago Black Hawks4–9Toronto Maple Leafs21–15–749
44March 3Boston Bruins3–5Chicago Black Hawks22–15–751
45March 6Toronto Maple Leafs5–2Chicago Black Hawks22–16–751
46March 10Montreal Canadiens3–1Chicago Black Hawks22–17–751
47March 13Detroit Red Wings4–9Chicago Black Hawks23–17–753
48March 14Chicago Black Hawks3–7Detroit Red Wings23–18–753
49March 16Chicago Black Hawks3–6Montreal Canadiens23–19–753
50March 17Chicago Black Hawks3–5Boston Bruins23–20–753

Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 19Chicago Black Hawks2–6Montreal Canadiens0–1
2March 21Chicago Black Hawks1–5Montreal Canadiens0–2
3March 24Montreal Canadiens8–2Chicago Black Hawks0–3
4March 26Montreal Canadiens7–2Chicago Black Hawks0–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Max Bentley473130616
Clint Smith502624502
Bill Mosienko4018304812
Alex Kaleta4919274617
Pete Horeck5020214134

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Mike Karakas4828802219716613.46
Doug Stevenson21201101206.00

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Clint Smith42130
Bill Mosienko42022
Hully Gee41124
Doug Bentley40220
Red Hamill41017

Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Mike Karakas4240042606.50

References
Notes
  1. "1945–1946 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
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