1945–46 Chicago Black Hawks season

1945–46 Chicago Blackhawks
Division 3rd NHL
1945–46 record 23–20–7
Home record 15–5–5
Road record 8–12–2
Goals for 200
Goals against 178
Team information
General Manager Bill Tobin
Coach Johnny Gottselig
Captain John Mariucci
Arena Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals Max Bentley (31)
Assists Bill Mosienko and Max Bentley (30)
Points Max Bentley (61)
Penalties in minutes John Mariucci (58)
Wins Mike Karakas (22)
Goals against average Mike Karakas (3.46)
<1944–45 1946–47>

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.

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
1 Montreal Canadiens 50 28 17 5 172 134 +38 61
2 Boston Bruins 50 24 18 8 167 156 +11 56
3 Chicago Black Hawks 50 23 20 7 200 178 +22 53
4 Detroit Red Wings 50 20 20 10 146 159 −13 50
5 Toronto Maple Leafs 50 19 24 7 174 185 −11 45
6 New York Rangers 50 13 28 9 144 191 −47 35

Game log

Regular season

# Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts
1 October 24 Chicago Black Hawks 5–4 Boston Bruins 1–0–0 2
2 October 27 Chicago Black Hawks 4–8 Montreal Canadiens 1–1–0 2
3 October 31 New York Rangers 1–5 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1–0 4
4 November 4 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–7 Chicago Black Hawks 3–1–0 6
5 November 8 Chicago Black Hawks 5–4 New York Rangers 4–1–0 8
6 November 10 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2–0 8
7 November 11 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–5 Chicago Black Hawks 5–2–0 10
8 November 15 Chicago Black Hawks 2–5 Detroit Red Wings 5–3–0 10
9 November 18 Detroit Red Wings 5–3 Chicago Black Hawks 5–4–0 10
10 November 22 New York Rangers 3–3 Chicago Black Hawks 5–4–1 11
11 November 25 Montreal Canadiens 1–5 Chicago Black Hawks 6–4–1 13
12 December 1 Chicago Black Hawks 8–2 Toronto Maple Leafs 7–4–1 15
13 December 2 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–3 Chicago Black Hawks 7–5–1 15
14 December 5 Chicago Black Hawks 3–6 Boston Bruins 7–6–1 15
15 December 9 Boston Bruins 3–8 Chicago Black Hawks 8–6–1 17
16 December 13 Chicago Black Hawks 7–4 New York Rangers 9–6–1 19
17 December 16 Detroit Red Wings 4–6 Chicago Black Hawks 10–6–1 21
18 December 19 Montreal Canadiens 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks 10–6–2 22
19 December 22 Chicago Black Hawks 6–4 Detroit Red Wings 11–6–2 24
20 December 23 Detroit Red Wings 4–4 Chicago Black Hawks 11–6–3 25
21 December 29 Chicago Black Hawks 5–4 Montreal Canadiens 12–6–3 27
22 December 30 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 New York Rangers 12–7–3 27
23 January 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 13–7–3 29
24 January 5 Chicago Black Hawks 3–0 Toronto Maple Leafs 14–7–3 31
25 January 6 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 Detroit Red Wings 14–8–3 31
26 January 12 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Boston Bruins 14–9–3 31
27 January 13 Chicago Black Hawks 2–3 New York Rangers 14–10–3 31
28 January 16 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 Montreal Canadiens 15–10–3 33
29 January 20 New York Rangers 1–9 Chicago Black Hawks 16–10–3 35
30 January 23 Montreal Canadiens 2–7 Chicago Black Hawks 17–10–3 37
31 January 26 Chicago Black Hawks 5–6 Toronto Maple Leafs 17–11–3 37
32 January 27 Boston Bruins 1–4 Chicago Black Hawks 18–11–3 39
33 January 30 Chicago Black Hawks 3–4 Boston Bruins 18–12–3 39
34 February 3 Boston Bruins 1–3 Chicago Black Hawks 19–12–3 41
35 February 6 New York Rangers 2–6 Chicago Black Hawks 20–12–3 43
36 February 9 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 Montreal Canadiens 20–13–3 43
37 February 10 Chicago Black Hawks 2–2 New York Rangers 20–13–4 44
38 February 13 Montreal Canadiens 5–1 Chicago Black Hawks 20–14–4 44
39 February 16 Chicago Black Hawks 3–3 Detroit Red Wings 20–14–5 45
40 February 17 Detroit Red Wings 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 20–14–6 46
41 February 20 Boston Bruins 3–4 Chicago Black Hawks 21–14–6 48
42 February 24 New York Rangers 2–2 Chicago Black Hawks 21–14–7 49
43 March 2 Chicago Black Hawks 4–9 Toronto Maple Leafs 21–15–7 49
44 March 3 Boston Bruins 3–5 Chicago Black Hawks 22–15–7 51
45 March 6 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–2 Chicago Black Hawks 22–16–7 51
46 March 10 Montreal Canadiens 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks 22–17–7 51
47 March 13 Detroit Red Wings 4–9 Chicago Black Hawks 23–17–7 53
48 March 14 Chicago Black Hawks 3–7 Detroit Red Wings 23–18–7 53
49 March 16 Chicago Black Hawks 3–6 Montreal Canadiens 23–19–7 53
50 March 17 Chicago Black Hawks 3–5 Boston Bruins 23–20–7 53

Playoffs

Montreal Canadiens 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 March 19 Chicago Black Hawks 2–6 Montreal Canadiens 0–1
2 March 21 Chicago Black Hawks 1–5 Montreal Canadiens 0–2
3 March 24 Montreal Canadiens 8–2 Chicago Black Hawks 0–3
4 March 26 Montreal Canadiens 7–2 Chicago Black Hawks 0–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Max Bentley 47 31 30 61 6
Clint Smith 50 26 24 50 2
Bill Mosienko 40 18 30 48 12
Alex Kaleta 49 19 27 46 17
Pete Horeck 50 20 21 41 34

Goaltending

Player GP TOI W L T GA SO GAA
Mike Karakas 48 2880 22 19 7 166 1 3.46
Doug Stevenson 2 120 1 1 0 12 0 6.00

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

Player GP G A Pts PIM
Clint Smith 4 2 1 3 0
Bill Mosienko 4 2 0 2 2
Hully Gee 4 1 1 2 4
Doug Bentley 4 0 2 2 0
Red Hamill 4 1 0 1 7

Goaltending

Player GP TOI W L GA SO GAA
Mike Karakas 4 240 0 4 26 0 6.50

References

Notes
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