1953–54 Chicago Black Hawks season

1953–54 Chicago Black Hawks
Division	6th NHL
1953–54 record	12–51–7
Home record	8–21–6
Road record	4–30–1
Goals for	133
Goals against	242
Team information
General manager	Bill Tobin
Coach	Sid Abel
Captain	Bill Gadsby
Arena	Chicago Stadium
Team leaders
Goals	Pete Conacher (19)
Assists	Larry Wilson (33)
Points	Larry Wilson (42)
Penalty minutes	Gus Mortson (132)
Wins	Al Rollins (12)
Goals against average	Al Rollins (3.23)

The 1953–54 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 28th season in the NHL, and they were coming off of a successful season in 1952–53, in which the team set team records in wins (27) and points (69), while earning their first playoff berth since the 1945–46 season. The Hawks lost to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games in the NHL semi-finals.

The Black Hawks were looking to build on their newfound success, however, the club would open the season with a record of 0–7–1 to quickly fall into last place in the NHL standings. Wins would be few and far between for the club, as they managed to win consecutive games only twice throughout the season, and finished the year dead last in the league with a 12–51–7 record, earning 31 points. The 12 wins was Chicago's fewest since the 1938–39 season, while the 31 points was their lowest total since the 1928–29 season.

Offensively, Chicago was led by Larry Wilson, who had a team high 33 assists and 42 points, while Pete Conacher scored a club best 19 goals. Defenceman and team captain Bill Gadsby had a career season, scoring 12 goals and 41 points, while getting 108 penalty minutes. Fellow defenceman Gus Mortson led the team with 132 penalty minutes.

In goal, Al Rollins played in 66 games, winning 12 games, while posting a 3.23 GAA and 7 shutouts. He was awarded the Hart Trophy for his efforts.

Season standings

National Hockey League

		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	70	37	19	14	191	132	+59	88
2	Montreal Canadiens	70	35	24	11	195	141	+54	81
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	32	24	14	152	131	+21	78
4	Boston Bruins	70	32	28	10	177	181	−4	74
5	New York Rangers	70	29	31	10	161	182	−21	68
6	Chicago Black Hawks	70	12	51	7	133	242	−109	31

Game log

Regular season

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

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Larry Wilson	66	9	33	42	22
Bill Gadsby	70	12	29	41	108
Bill Mosienko	65	15	19	34	17
Pete Conacher	70	19	9	28	23
Lou Jankowski	68	15	13	28	7

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Al Rollins	66	3960	12	47	7	213	5	3.23
Jean Marois	2	120	0	2	0	11	0	5.50
Jack Gelineau	2	120	0	2	0	18	0	9.00

Roster

1953–54 Chicago Black Hawks
Goaltenders 1 – Jack Gelineau  1 – Jean Marois  1 – Al Rollins		Defensemen 2 – Gus Mortson  3 – Lee Fogolin  4 – Bill Gadsby  – C 5 – Al Dewsbury  6 – Bob Wilson  6 – Larry Zeidel  11 – Fred Hucul  19 – Jack Price		Wingers 6 – Hillary Menard  7 – Jimmy Peters  8 – Bill Mosienko  9 – Pete Conacher  10 – Vic Lynn  11 – Jack McIntyre  14 – Sid Finney  14 – Ike Hildebrand  15 – Gerry Couture  17 – George Gee  19 – Lou Jankowski  19 – Jerry Toppazzini  21 – Kenny Wharram		Centers 12 – Gus Bodnar  15 – John Sleaver  16 – Larry Wilson  18 – Jim McFadden  19 – Hec Lalande  20 – Sid Abel  20 – Murray Costello  21 – Fred Sasakamoose  GM: Bill Tobin Coach: Sid Abel

Sources

• Hockey-Reference
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007