1968–69 Chicago Black Hawks season

Offseason

The NHL announced during the summer that the league would once again increase its schedule, as it went from 74 games to 76.

During the off-season, the Black Hawks traded team captain Pierre Pilote to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Jim Pappin. Pilote had been the captain since the 1961–62 season, and head coach Billy Reay decided to not name a captain for the club for the season.

Regular season

The Black Hawks would start the season off on the right foot, beginning the year with a four-game winning streak, however, the team would eventually fall into a slump, and sit with a 6–6–0 record twelve games in. Chicago would then get hot again, and eventually found themselves a season high eight games over .500 during their streak, and found themselves in a heated playoff race with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings for the fourth and final playoff position in the East. The Hawks would then fall into a slump, as they had winless streaks of five games and eight games, to fall out of the race, and into the cellar of the East Division. Chicago would end the year with an over .500 record, as they were 34–33–9, earning 77 points, however, the team finished in last, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1957–58.

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Bobby Hull, who once again set an NHL record for goals in a season, as he scored 58 times, and he became the second player in league history to record 100 points, as he finished the season with 107 points, which was second in league scoring. Stan Mikita had another excellent season also, scoring 30 goals and earning 97 points as he finished fourth in NHL scoring. Newly acquired Jim Pappin fit right in, scoring 30 goals and 70 points. Kenny Wharram and Dennis Hull also scored 30 goals to give the Hawks five players with 30+ goals in the season. Pat Stapleton led the defense with 56 points, while Gilles Marotte led the team with 120 penalty minutes, and tied Stapleton with the team lead in plus/minus, with a +23.

In goal, Denis DeJordy saw most of the action, playing in 53 games, earning a team high 22 victories, and a team best 3.14 GAA, along with 2 shutouts. Backup Dave Dryden played well, earning 11 victories, while earning a team best 3 shutouts.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

|- | 1 || October 11 || St. Louis Blues || 3–4 || Chicago Black Hawks || 1–0–0 || 2 |- | 2 || October 13 || New York Rangers || 2–5 || Chicago Black Hawks || 2–0–0 || 4 |- | 3 || October 16 || Minnesota North Stars || 4–10 || Chicago Black Hawks || 3–0–0 || 6 |- | 4 || October 19 || Chicago Black Hawks || 3–1 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 4–0–0 || 8 |- | 5 || October 20 || Oakland Seals || 4–3 || Chicago Black Hawks || 4–1–0 || 8 |- | 6 || October 23 || Chicago Black Hawks || 8–5 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 5–1–0 || 10 |- | 7 || October 27 || Chicago Black Hawks || 3–4 || Detroit Red Wings || 5–2–0 || 10 |- | 8 || October 30 || Chicago Black Hawks || 4–2 || Los Angeles Kings || 6–2–0 || 12

| Legend:

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1968 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

References

Sources

• Hockey-Reference
• Rauzulu's Street
• HockeyDB
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

References

1. [http://hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1968.html 1967–68 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com]
2. "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Denis Dejordy".
3. "Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Dave Dryden".
4. "1968-69 Chicago Black Hawks Schedule".