1954–55 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1954–55 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's 29th season in the NHL, and the team was coming off a miserable season in 1953–54, when they set the NHL record for losses in a season with 51, finishing in last place in the NHL, and missing the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. Due to poor attendances at home games, the Blackhawks played eight scheduled games at neutral venues. Six games were played at St Louis, Missouri, one at Omaha, Nebraska and one game at St Paul, Minnesota.^[1]

It was a busy off-season for Chicago, as Bill Tobin was replaced by Tommy Ivan as general manager of the club. Ivan had previously been the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings from 1947–1954, winning 3 Stanley Cups with the team. He would hire Frank Eddolls to be his head coach, as player-coach Sid Abel was let go after the 1953–54 season. Eddolls had previously been a player-coach of the Buffalo Bisons of the AHL. One of Ivan's first moves as the general manager of the team was to build a farm system, as the Black Hawks were the only team in the NHL without one.

During the season, the Hawks would be involved in a number of trades, including acquiring Ed Litzenberger from the Montreal Canadiens, and getting Allan Stanley and Nick Mickoski in a trade with the New York Rangers. The Litzenberger trade paid off immediately, as he was awarded the Calder Trophy for the best rookie in the league.

It would be another long season in Chicago, with wins few and far between. The team would only win consecutive games twice throughout the season, and have numerous losing streaks. The Hawks would finish the year with a 13–40–17 record, earning 43 points, which represented a 12-point increase over the previous season, however, the club would finish in last place in the league for the second year in a row.

Offensively, Chicago was led by Red Sullivan, who the team acquired in the off-season. Sullivan scored a team high 19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points, which ranked him sixth in the NHL. Rookie Ed Litzenberger contributed with 16 goals and 40 points in 44 games with Chicago, while Harry Watson scored 14 goals and 30 points in 43 games before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jack McIntyre led the Hawks blueline with 16 goals and 29 points, while fellow defenceman Allan Stanley scored 10 goals and 25 points in 52 games after being acquired from the New York Rangers. Gord Hollingworth led the Hawks with 135 penalty minutes, while team captain Gus Mortson was right behind him, getting 133.

In goal, Al Rollins played in 44 games, winning a club high 9 of them, while posting a GAA of 3.39. Backup goaltender Hank Bassen would post a record of 4–9–8, leading the club with a 3.00 GAA.

Season standings

National Hockey League^[2]
		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	DIFF	Pts
1	Detroit Red Wings	70	42	17	11	204	134	+70	95
2	Montreal Canadiens	70	41	18	11	228	157	+71	93
3	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	24	24	22	147	135	+12	70
4	Boston Bruins	70	23	26	21	169	188	−19	67
5	New York Rangers	70	17	35	18	150	210	−60	52
6	Chicago Black Hawks	70	13	40	17	161	235	−74	43

Game log

Regular season

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

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Red Sullivan	70	19	42	61	51
Ed Litzenberger	44	16	24	40	28
Harry Watson	43	14	16	30	4
Jack McIntyre	65	16	13	29	40
Nick Mickoski	52	10	19	29	42

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
Hank Bassen	21	1260	4	9	8	63	0	3.00
Al Rollins	44	2640	9	27	8	150	0	3.41
Ray Frederick	5	300	0	4	1	22	0	4.40

Roster

1954–55 Chicago Black Hawks

Goaltenders

Defensemen

2 – Gus Mortson – C
3 – Lee Fogolin
4 – Bill Gadsby
4 – Allan Stanley
5 – Al Dewsbury
6 – Gord Hollingworth
20 – Frank Martin
25 – Frank Sullivan

Wingers

Centers

7 – Larry Wilson
12 – Bob Hassard
15 – Metro Prystai
16 – Dave Creighton
17 – John McCormack
18 – Paul Masnick
21 – Red Sullivan

GM: Tommy Ivan
Coach: Frank Eddolls

References

↑ Weekes, Don (2003). The Best and Worst of Hockey's Firsts: The Unofficial Guide. Canada: Greystone Books. p. 240. ISBN 9781550548600.
↑ "1954–1955 Division Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". National Hockey League.

Sources

Hockey-Reference
National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007

Chicago Blackhawks seasons

1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00

2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1954–55 NHL season

Teams	Boston Chicago Detroit Montreal New York Toronto

See also	All-Star Game Richard Riot Topps Hockey Stanley Cup Finals

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