1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 35th season in the National Hockey League (NHL), ending with the Hawks winning their third Stanley Cup. Chicago faced the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL semi-finals, and defeated the Canadiens in six games. They subsequently faced the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals, winning 4 games to 2.[1]

1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks
Stanley Cup champions
Division3rd NHL
1960–61 record29–24–17
Home record20–6–9
Road record9–18–8
Goals for198
Goals against180
Team information
General ManagerTommy Ivan
CoachRudy Pilous
CaptainEd Litzenberger
Alternate captainsBill Hay
Ron Murphy
Pierre Pilote
ArenaChicago Stadium
Team leaders
GoalsBobby Hull (31)
AssistsBill Hay (48)
PointsBill Hay (59)
Penalty minutesPierre Pilote (165)
WinsGlenn Hall (29)
Goals against averageGlenn Hall (2.51)

Regular season

The Black Hawks started the year off very strong, earning a 6–1–2 record in their first nine games; however, the club went into a slump in which their record was 5–13–6 in their next 24 games, causing them to fall under the .500 mark and into a battle with the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers for a playoff spot. Chicago would snap out of their slump, and go on a seven-game winning streak to sit with an 18–14–8 record, 40 games into the season. The Hawks continued to play good hockey for the remainder of the season, going 11–10–9 in their last 30 games to finish the season with a club-record 29 victories and 75 points. The Hawks finished in third place for the third consecutive season, and for the first time since 1945–46 the club finished the season with a record over .500.[2]

Offensively, Chicago was led by Bill Hay, who led the team with 48 assists and 59 points, while Bobby Hull scored a team-high 31 goals. Stan Mikita had a break out season, scoring 19 goals and 53 points, as did Murray Balfour, who had 21 goals and 48 points. On defense, Pierre Pilote led the way, scoring 6 goals and 35 points while posting a team-high 165 penalty minutes.

In goal, Glenn Hall played in all 70 games, winning a team-record 29 games, while posting a 2.51 GAA and 6 shutouts.[3]

Season standings
National Hockey League[4]
GP W L T GF GA DIFF Pts
1Montreal Canadiens70411910254188+6692
2Toronto Maple Leafs70391912234176+5890
3Chicago Black Hawks70292417198180+1875
4Detroit Red Wings70252916195215−2066
5New York Rangers70223810204248−4454
6Boston Bruins70154213176254−7843

Record vs. opponents
1960–61 NHL Records
Team BOS CHI DET MON NYR TOR
Boston —4–6–44–8–22–10–23–9–22–9–3
Chicago 6–4–4—6–4–45–5–47–4–35–7–2
Detroit 8–4–24–6–4—4–7–37–5–22–7–5
Montreal 10–2–25–5–47–4–3—11–2–18–6
New York 9–3–24–7–35–7–22–11–1—2–10–2
Toronto 9–2–37–5–27–2–56–810–2–2—

Schedule and results
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1October 5Detroit Red Wings1–1Chicago Black Hawks0–0–11
2October 6Chicago Black Hawks4–2Detroit Red Wings1–0–13
3October 9New York Rangers2–3Chicago Black Hawks2–0–15
4October 12Toronto Maple Leafs0–3Chicago Black Hawks3–0–17
5October 16Boston Bruins2–5Chicago Black Hawks4–0–19
6October 19Chicago Black Hawks0–2New York Rangers4–1–19
7October 22Chicago Black Hawks4–2Montreal Canadiens5–1–111
8October 23Chicago Black Hawks2–2Boston Bruins5–1–212
9October 25Montreal Canadiens4–8Chicago Black Hawks6–1–214
10October 29Chicago Black Hawks4–8Toronto Maple Leafs6–2–214
11October 30Chicago Black Hawks1–2Detroit Red Wings6–3–214
12November 2New York Rangers4–4Chicago Black Hawks6–3–315
13November 5Chicago Black Hawks4–4Montreal Canadiens6–3–416
14November 6Chicago Black Hawks0–4Boston Bruins6–4–416
15November 9Toronto Maple Leafs0–2Chicago Black Hawks7–4–418
16November 12Chicago Black Hawks1–7Toronto Maple Leafs7–5–418
17November 13Detroit Red Wings1–7Chicago Black Hawks8–5–420
18November 15Chicago Black Hawks2–3Detroit Red Wings8–6–420
19November 17Boston Bruins2–4Chicago Black Hawks9–6–422
20November 20Montreal Canadiens1–1Chicago Black Hawks9–6–523
21November 24Toronto Maple Leafs1–2Chicago Black Hawks10–6–525
22November 26Chicago Black Hawks2–4Montreal Canadiens10–7–525
23November 27Chicago Black Hawks3–3New York Rangers10–7–626
24November 30Boston Bruins2–2Chicago Black Hawks10–7–727
25December 4Montreal Canadiens7–5Chicago Black Hawks10–8–727
26December 8Chicago Black Hawks1–5Boston Bruins10–9–727
27December 10Chicago Black Hawks2–5Toronto Maple Leafs10–10–727
28December 11Toronto Maple Leafs6–1Chicago Black Hawks10–11–727
29December 14New York Rangers0–4Chicago Black Hawks11–11–729
30December 18Detroit Red Wings3–2Chicago Black Hawks11–12–729
31December 21Chicago Black Hawks2–2New York Rangers11–12–830
32December 22Chicago Black Hawks2–4Boston Bruins11–13–830
33December 24Chicago Black Hawks1–3Montreal Canadiens11–14–830
34December 25Chicago Black Hawks3–0Detroit Red Wings12–14–832
35December 28Boston Bruins3–4Chicago Black Hawks13–14–834
36December 31Chicago Black Hawks3–0Detroit Red Wings14–14–836
37January 1Detroit Red Wings0–3Chicago Black Hawks15–14–838
38January 4Chicago Black Hawks3–2Detroit Red Wings16–14–840
39January 5Chicago Black Hawks4–3Boston Bruins17–14–842
40January 8Toronto Maple Leafs1–5Chicago Black Hawks18–14–844
41January 11Detroit Red Wings2–2Chicago Black Hawks18–14–945
42January 14Chicago Black Hawks1–4Toronto Maple Leafs18–15–945
43January 15New York Rangers3–1Chicago Black Hawks18–16–945
44January 18Montreal Canadiens4–0Chicago Black Hawks18–17–945
45January 21New York Rangers3–5Chicago Black Hawks19–17–947
46January 22Boston Bruins3–8Chicago Black Hawks20–17–949
47January 26Chicago Black Hawks2–2Detroit Red Wings20–17–1050
48January 28Chicago Black Hawks1–2Toronto Maple Leafs20–18–1050
49January 29Montreal Canadiens1–1Chicago Black Hawks20–18–1151
50February 1Chicago Black Hawks1–3New York Rangers20–19–1151
51February 2Chicago Black Hawks2–2Boston Bruins20–19–1252
52February 4Chicago Black Hawks4–1Montreal Canadiens21–19–1254
53February 5Toronto Maple Leafs1–1Chicago Black Hawks21–19–1355
54February 8Detroit Red Wings2–5Chicago Black Hawks22–19–1357
55February 12Montreal Canadiens1–3Chicago Black Hawks23–19–1359
56February 15New York Rangers2–5Chicago Black Hawks24–19–1361
57February 18Chicago Black Hawks2–5Toronto Maple Leafs24–20–1361
58February 19Chicago Black Hawks2–2Boston Bruins24–20–1462
59February 22Chicago Black Hawks2–4New York Rangers24–21–1462
60February 25Chicago Black Hawks1–1Montreal Canadiens24–21–1563
61February 26Boston Bruins2–7Chicago Black Hawks25–21–1565
62February 28Chicago Black Hawks1–3Detroit Red Wings25–22–1565
63March 2New York Rangers1–7Chicago Black Hawks26–22–1567
64March 5Toronto Maple Leafs1–3Chicago Black Hawks27–22–1569
65March 8Chicago Black Hawks4–3New York Rangers28–22–1571
66March 11Chicago Black Hawks2–2Toronto Maple Leafs28–22–1672
67March 12Montreal Canadiens6–2Chicago Black Hawks28–23–1672
68March 15Detroit Red Wings2–2Chicago Black Hawks28–23–1773
69March 18Chicago Black Hawks4–1Montreal Canadiens29–23–1775
70March 19Chicago Black Hawks3–4Boston Bruins29–24–1775

Playoffs

Chicago faced the Montreal Canadiens in the best-of-seven NHL semi-final for the third consecutive season. The Canadiens once again finished on top of the NHL, earning 92 points, and had won five straight Stanley Cup championships. The heavily favored Canadiens took the series opener at the Montreal Forum, easily defeating Chicago 6–2; however, the Black Hawks fought back in the second game, evening the series out with a 4–3 win. The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next two games, and the Black Hawks used their home ice advantage to take a 2–1 series lead with a thrilling 2–1 overtime victory in the third game; however, the powerful Canadiens stormed back in the fourth game, defeating Chicago 5–2 to even the series up once again. The Black Hawks stunned the Montreal fans in the fifth game, shutting out the Canadiens 3–0 on the road to return to Chicago for the sixth game up 3–2 in the series. Chicago completed the upset, once again shutting out the Canadiens 3–0 in the sixth game to win the series 4–2, and earned a trip to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1944.[5]

The Black Hawks faced the Detroit Red Wings in the 1961 Stanley Cup Finals. The Red Wings finished the season behind Chicago in the regular season, earning 66 points; however, they upset the heavily favored Toronto Maple Leafs to earn a spot in the finals. The Hawks took the series opener on home ice, as Bobby Hull scored two goals in Chicago's 3–2 win. The series moved to the Detroit Olympia for the second game, and the Red Wings responded with a 3–1 win to even the series up. The third game was back in Chicago, and it was the Hawks who took a 2–1 series lead by defeating the Red Wings 3–1; however, in the fourth game back in Detroit, the Red Wings evened the series up again, defeating the Hawks 2–1. Chicago easily won the fifth game in Chicago, winning 6–3 to take the series lead once again. In the sixth game in Detroit, the Black Hawks won the series as they handily defeated the Wings 5–1 to win their third Stanley Cup in team history, and the first since 1938. Pierre Pilote led all players in playoff scoring, earning 15 points, while Bobby Hull was just behind him with 14 points.[6]

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Montreal Canadiens 2
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 21Chicago Black Hawks2–6Montreal Canadiens0–1
2March 23Chicago Black Hawks4–3Montreal Canadiens1–1
3March 26Montreal Canadiens1–2Chicago Black Hawks2–1
4March 28Montreal Canadiens5–2Chicago Black Hawks2–2
5April 1Chicago Black Hawks3–0Montreal Canadiens3–2
6April 4Montreal Canadiens0–3Chicago Black Hawks4–2

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Detroit Red Wings 2
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 6Detroit Red Wings2–3Chicago Black Hawks1–0
2April 8Chicago Black Hawks1–3Detroit Red Wings1–1
3April 10Detroit Red Wings1–3Chicago Black Hawks2–1
4April 12Chicago Black Hawks1–2Detroit Red Wings2–2
5April 14Detroit Red Wings3–6Chicago Black Hawks3–2
6April 16Chicago Black Hawks5–1Detroit Red Wings4–2

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Bill Hay6911485945
Bobby Hull6731255643
Stan Mikita66193453100
Murray Balfour70212748123
Kenny Wharram6416294512
Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLTGASOGAA
Glenn Hall70420029241717662.51

Playoffs
Scoring leaders
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Pierre Pilote12312158
Bobby Hull12410144
Stan Mikita12651121
Murray Balfour11551014
Kenny Wharram1235812
Goaltending
PlayerGPTOIWLGASOGAA
Glenn Hall12772842622.02

Awards and records

Transactions

Roster
1960–61 Chicago Black Hawks roster

Forwards

8 – M. Balfour • 8 – Hicks • 9 – Sloan • 10 – Murphy • 11 – Hay • 12 – Litzenberger • 14 – McDonald • 15 – Nesternko • 16 – Hull • 17 – Wharram • 18 – Maki • 20 – E. Balfour • 21 – Mikita 

Defenseman

2 – Arbour • 3 – Pilote • 4 – Vasko • 5 – Evans • 6 – Fleming • 18 – Hillman • 19 – St. Laurent 

Goalies

1 – Hall 

General Manager: Tommy Ivan •  Coach: Rudy Pilous

See also

References
  1. "1960-61 NHL Season Summary - Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  2. "1960-61 Chicago Black Hawks Games - Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-reference.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2009. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  3. 1 Glenn Hall. "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Glenn Hall". Goaliesarchive.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  4. "1960–1961 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.
  5. "Chicago Blackhawks - Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-reference.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  6. "1960-61 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". Hockey-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-26.

Sources
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