1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks season

1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks
Smythe Division Champions
Division 1st Smythe
1979–80 record 34–27–19
Goals for 241
Goals against 250
Team information
General Manager Bob Pulford
Coach Eddie Johnston
Captain Keith Magnuson
Terry Ruskowski
Alternate captains None
Average attendance 11,700 (70.2%)
Team leaders
<1978–79 1980–81>

The 1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks season was the 54th season of operation of the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League. The club was coming off a first-place finish in the Smythe Division in the 1978-79, despite finishing with a 29-36-15 record. In the 1979 playoffs, the Black Hawks were swept by the New York Islanders in the quarter-finals.

Off-season

During the off-season, the Black Hawks named Eddie Johnston as their new head coach, as Bob Pulford stepped down to focus on his general manager duties. Johnston was previously the head coach of the New Brunswick Hawks, Chicago's AHL affiliate, in 1978-79, leading the team to a 41-29-10 record. Johnston was also a former goaltender, playing in the NHL from 1962-1978, earning a 234-257-80 record with a 3.25 GAA in 592 career games while playing for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, St. Louis Blues and the Chicago Black Hawks. Johnston won two Stanley Cup championships with the Bruins in 1970 and 1972.

With the NHL expanding to 21 teams, as the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques and Winnipeg Jets joined the league from the WHA, the Hawks remained in the Smythe Division, with the Oilers and Jets joining Chicago, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks to form the only six team division in the league.

At the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft, Chicago made a deal with the Quebec Nordiques, as the Hawks agreed to not reclaim Real Cloutier from the Nordiques in exchange for Quebec's first round draft pick in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Prior to the draft, the Hawks reclaimed Bobby Hull and Terry Ruskowski from the Winnipeg Jets and John Garrett from the Hartford Whalers. During the draft, Chicago lost Hull to Winnipeg, Garrett and Jean Savard to the Whalers, Doug Hicks and Reg Thomas to the Edmonton Oilers. The Hawks added Rich Preston from the Jets at the draft.

Regular season

The Black Hawks had a poor start to the season, as they club had a record of 3-6-3 in their first 12 games. The club continued to struggle, as Chicago won only eight of their first 29 games, going 8-11-10, however, the Hawks were in second place in the Smythe Division, five points behind the first place Vancouver Canucks. The Hawks then went 9-3-2 in their next 14 games, improving their overall record to 17-14-12, charging into first place, five points ahead of the second place St. Louis Blues. Chicago would hold on to first place for the rest of the season, finishing with a 34-27-19 record, earning 87 points, for their third consecutive division title, and eighth in the last eleven seasons.

Offensively, the club was led by Terry Ruskowski, who joined the Black Hawks after being reclaimed in the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft by the team from the Winnipeg Jets, as he had a team high 70 points, scoring 15 goals and 55 assists. He also led the club with 252 penalty minutes. Tom Lysiak finished second in team scoring with 26 goals and 69 points, while Grant Mulvey had a team high 39 goals, while adding 26 assists for 65 points. Rich Preston also broke the 30 goal plateau, as he had 31 goals and 61 points and had a team best +16 rating. On defence, Doug Wilson led the way with 12 goals and 61 points, while Bob Murray had another excellent season, scoring 16 goals and 50 points.

In goal, Tony Esposito saw the majority of playing time, going 31-22-16 with a 2.97 GAA in 69 games.

Final standings

Smythe Division
GP W L T GF GA PTS
Chicago Black Hawks 80 34 27 19 241 250 87
St. Louis Blues 80 34 34 12 266 278 80
Vancouver Canucks 80 27 37 16 256 281 70
Edmonton Oilers 80 28 39 13 301 322 69
Winnipeg Jets 80 20 49 11 214 314 51
Colorado Rockies 80 19 48 13 234 308 51

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Playoffs

The Black Hawks opened the playoffs with a best-of-five preliminary series against the St. Louis Blues. The Blues finished the season with a 34-34-12 record, earning 80 points and second place in the Smythe Division, seven points behind Chicago. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium. The first game would be decided in overtime, after the clubs played to a 2-2 tie after regulation time. In the extra period, the Hawks Doug Lecuyer scored and ended the Black Hawks 16 game playoff game losing streak, as Chicago took the series opener by a 3-2 score. It marked the first time since 1975 that Chicago had won a playoff game. In the second game, the Hawks, led by Doug Wilson and his two goals, easily defeated the Blues 5-1 to take a 2-0 series lead. The series shifted to The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri for the third game, and the Hawks, led by Doug Lecuyer and his two goals, as well as 23 saves by goaltender Tony Esposito, completed the series sweep.

In the NHL quarter-finals, the Black Hawks faced the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo finished the season with a 47-17-16 record, earning 110 points and first place in the Adams Division. The Sabres then defeated the Vancouver Canucks three games to one in the first round of the playoffs. The series opened with two games at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York, as the Sabres easily defeated the Black Hawks 5-0 in the series opener, limiting Chicago to only one shot in the first period, and 17 overall. In the second game, the Sabres took an early 2-0 lead in the first period, however, two straight goals by Tom Lysiak tied the game early in the second period. The Sabres then struck for three straight goals before Chicago could answer with one of their own to take a 5-3 lead into the third period. The Black Hawks cut the Sabres lead to 5-4 when Darryl Sutter scored early in the third, however, the Sabres shut down the Hawks, and won the game 6-4 to take a 2-0 series lead. The series moved to Chicago Stadium for the next two games, and in the third game, the Sabres once again scored two early goals in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Darryl Sutter cut the Sabres lead in half in the second period, as the Hawks made the score 2-1, however, Sabres goaltender Don Edwards made 38 saves, as Buffalo held on for a 2-1 victory, and taking a 3-0 series lead. In the fourth game, the Black Hawks took their first lead in the series when Bob Murray scored midway through the first period to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. Tom Lysiak made it 2-0 Chicago in the second period, however, the Sabres John Van Boxmeer cut the Hawks lead to 2-1 with a goal late in the second period. Buffalo completed the comeback with two unanswered goals in the third period, one by Rick Martin and one by Gilbert Perreault, as the Sabres won the game 3-2, and swept the series.

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 10, 19794–2 Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 1–0–0
2LOctober 13, 19791–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 1–1–0
3TOctober 14, 19793–3 Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 1–1–1
4WOctober 17, 19793–2 Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 2–1–1
5TOctober 20, 19792–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 2–1–2
6LOctober 21, 19790–3 Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 2–2–2
7WOctober 24, 19794–0 Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 3–2–2
8LOctober 27, 19794–6 @ New York Islanders (1979–80) 3–3–2
9LOctober 28, 19791–4 Boston Bruins (1979–80) 3–4–2
10TOctober 31, 19790–0 Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 3–4–3
11LNovember 3, 19790–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 3–5–3
12LNovember 4, 19793–5 Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 3–6–3
13TNovember 8, 19793–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 3–6–4
14WNovember 9, 19794–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 4–6–4
15TNovember 11, 19795–5 Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 4–6–5
16LNovember 14, 19792–5 Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 4–7–5
17WNovember 17, 19794–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 5–7–5
18TNovember 18, 19793–3 Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 5–7–6
19WNovember 21, 19794–0 Washington Capitals (1979–80) 6–7–6
20WNovember 24, 19792–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 7–7–6
21WNovember 25, 19796–3 St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 8–7–6
22LNovember 28, 19792–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 8–8–6
23TNovember 30, 19791–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 8–8–7
24LDecember 1, 19790–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 8–9–7
25TDecember 5, 19793–3 @ New York Rangers (1979–80) 8–9–8
26TDecember 8, 19793–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 8–9–9
27TDecember 9, 19794–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 8–9–10
28LDecember 12, 19792–5 New York Rangers (1979–80) 8–10–10
29LDecember 13, 19792–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 8–11–10
30WDecember 15, 19792–1 @ Boston Bruins (1979–80) 9–11–10
31WDecember 16, 19797–3 Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 10–11–10
32TDecember 19, 19790–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 10–11–11
33LDecember 21, 19791–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 10–12–11
34WDecember 23, 19798–0 New York Islanders (1979–80) 11–12–11
35TDecember 26, 19793–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 11–12–12
36LDecember 28, 19792–6 @ Washington Capitals (1979–80) 11–13–12
37WDecember 30, 19795–3 Boston Bruins (1979–80) 12–13–12
38WJanuary 2, 19805–2 Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 13–13–12
39WJanuary 5, 19804–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 14–13–12
40WJanuary 6, 19803–1 Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 15–13–12
41LJanuary 9, 19801–6 Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 15–14–12
42WJanuary 12, 19803–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 16–14–12
43WJanuary 13, 19803–2 Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 17–14–12
44LJanuary 16, 19801–6 Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 17–15–12
45LJanuary 17, 19801–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 17–16–12
46LJanuary 19, 19803–5 @ Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 17–17–12
47WJanuary 20, 19802–1 @ New York Rangers (1979–80) 18–17–12
48LJanuary 23, 19801–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 18–18–12
49TJanuary 25, 19804–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 18–18–13
50WJanuary 27, 19803–0 Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 19–18–13
51WJanuary 30, 19805–2 Washington Capitals (1979–80) 20–18–13
52WFebruary 2, 19805–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 21–18–13
53WFebruary 3, 19804–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 22–18–13
54TFebruary 6, 19803–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 22–18–14
55LFebruary 9, 19802–5 @ Boston Bruins (1979–80) 22–19–14
56WFebruary 10, 19803–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 23–19–14
57WFebruary 13, 19803–1 New York Rangers (1979–80) 24–19–14
58WFebruary 17, 19803–2 Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 25–19–14
59WFebruary 20, 19804–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 26–19–14
60LFebruary 23, 19802–6 @ Washington Capitals (1979–80) 26–20–14
61WFebruary 24, 19803–1 Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 27–20–14
62LFebruary 27, 19802–5 Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 27–21–14
63WMarch 1, 19804–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 28–21–14
64WMarch 2, 19803–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 29–21–14
65TMarch 5, 19803–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 29–21–15
66WMarch 7, 19804–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 30–21–15
67TMarch 8, 19803–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 30–21–16
68TMarch 12, 19806–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 30–21–17
69LMarch 14, 19804–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 30–22–17
70LMarch 16, 19801–6 New York Islanders (1979–80) 30–23–17
71WMarch 19, 19805–2 Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 31–23–17
72TMarch 22, 19804–4 @ New York Islanders (1979–80) 31–23–18
73WMarch 23, 19804–2 Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 32–23–18
74LMarch 25, 19804–8 @ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 32–24–18
75WMarch 26, 19807–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 33–24–18
76TMarch 30, 19802–2 Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 33–24–19
77LApril 1, 19802–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 33–25–19
78LApril 2, 19802–5 Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 33–26–19
79WApril 5, 19803–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 34–26–19
80LApril 6, 19804–5 St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 34–27–19

[2]

Chicago Black Hawks 3, St. Louis Blues 0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 8 St. Louis Blues 2–3 Chicago Black Hawks 1-0
2 April 9 St. Louis Blues 1–5 Chicago Black Hawks 2-0
3 April 11 Chicago Black Hawks 4–1 St. Louis Blues 3-0

Buffalo Sabres 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0

# Date Visitor Score Home Record
1 April 16 Chicago Black Hawks 0–5 Buffalo Sabres 0-1
2 April 17 Chicago Black Hawks 4–6 Buffalo Sabres 0-2
3 April 19 Buffalo Sabres 2–1 Chicago Black Hawks 0-3
4 April 20 Buffalo Sabres 3–2 Chicago Black Hawks 0-4

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski C 74 15 55 70 2527613
Lysiak, TomTom Lysiak C 77 26 43 69 31-71007
Mulvey, GrantGrant Mulvey RW 80 39 26 65 12231407
Preston, RichRich Preston RW 80 31 30 61 70161225
Wilson, DougDoug Wilson D 73 12 49 61 70-5311
Murray, BobBob Murray D 74 16 34 50 60-16801
Bulley, TedTed Bulley LW 66 14 17 31 136-12101
O'Connell, MikeMike O'Connell D 78 8 22 30 52-2202
Higgins, TimTim Higgins RW 74 13 12 25 50-15200
Sedlbauer, RonRon Sedlbauer LW 45 13 10 23 141100
Bordeleau, J.P.J.P. Bordeleau RW 45 7 14 21 283100
Marks, JohnJohn Marks LW 74 6 15 21 51-16101
Brown, KeithKeith Brown D 76 2 18 20 277002
Kerr, RegReg Kerr LW 49 9 8 17 17-10110
Daigle, AlainAlain Daigle RW 66 7 9 16 22-6010
Trimper, TimTim Trimper LW 30 6 10 16 10-7201
Fox, GregGreg Fox D 71 4 11 15 73-13001
Lecuyer, DougDoug Lecuyer LW 53 3 10 13 59-7001
Koroll, CliffCliff Koroll RW 47 3 4 7 6-10000
Mikita, StanStan Mikita C/RW 17 2 5 7 122000
Logan, DaveDave Logan D 12 2 3 5 345001
Hutchison, DaveDave Hutchison D 38 0 5 5 730000
Ribble, PatPat Ribble D 23 1 2 3 14-8000
Sutter, DarrylDarryl Sutter LW 8 2 0 2 21000
Paterson, RickRick Paterson C 11 0 2 2 00000
Esposito, TonyTony Esposito G 69 0 1 1 20000
Magnuson, KeithKeith Magnuson D 3 0 0 0 40000
Phillipoff, HaroldHarold Phillipoff LW 9 0 0 0 20-3000
Veisor, MikeMike Veisor G 11 0 0 0 00000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Esposito, TonyTony Esposito 4140 69 31 22 16 205 2.97 6
Veisor, MikeMike Veisor 660 11 3 5 3 37 3.36 0
Team: 4800 80 34 27 19 242 3.02 6

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Wilson, DougDoug Wilson D 7 2 8 10 6000
Lysiak, TomTom Lysiak C 7 4 4 8 0400
Murray, BobBob Murray D 7 2 4 6 6000
Bulley, TedTed Bulley LW 7 2 3 5 10000
Lecuyer, DougDoug Lecuyer LW 7 4 0 4 15001
Sutter, DarrylDarryl Sutter LW 7 3 1 4 2201
Higgins, TimTim Higgins RW 7 0 3 3 10000
Preston, RichRich Preston RW 7 0 3 3 2000
Mulvey, GrantGrant Mulvey RW 7 1 1 2 8000
Sedlbauer, RonRon Sedlbauer LW 7 1 1 2 6101
O'Connell, MikeMike O'Connell D 7 0 1 1 0000
Bordeleau, J.P.J.P. Bordeleau RW 1 0 0 0 0000
Brown, KeithKeith Brown D 6 0 0 0 4000
Daigle, AlainAlain Daigle RW 2 0 0 0 0000
Esposito, TonyTony Esposito G 6 0 0 0 0000
Fox, GregGreg Fox D 7 0 0 0 8000
Hutchison, DaveDave Hutchison D 6 0 0 0 12000
Koroll, CliffCliff Koroll RW 2 0 0 0 2000
Marks, JohnJohn Marks LW 4 0 0 0 0000
Paterson, RickRick Paterson C 7 0 0 0 5000
Ruskowski, TerryTerry Ruskowski C 4 0 0 0 22000
Trimper, TimTim Trimper LW 1 0 0 0 2000
Veisor, MikeMike Veisor G 1 0 0 0 0000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Esposito, TonyTony Esposito 373 6 3 3 14 2.25 0
Veisor, MikeMike Veisor 60 1 0 1 6 6.00 0
Team: 433 7 3 4 20 2.77 0

[3]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts;

See also

References

  1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. "1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
  3. "1979-80 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
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