1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks season

1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks
Smythe Division champions
Division1st Smythe
1979–80 record34–27–19
Goals for241
Goals against250
Team information
General managerBob Pulford
CoachEddie Johnston
CaptainKeith Magnuson (Oct)
Terry Ruskowski (Oct-Apr)
Alternate captainsNone
Average attendance11,700 (70.2%)

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

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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 to 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

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Keith Magnuson retired three games into the season, and was replaced by Terry Ruskowski as team captain.

On October 10, 1979, Chicago beat Edmonton 4–2. This was also the debut of future Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.

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

[edit]
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.

League standings[2]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 p – Philadelphia Flyers PTK 80 48 12 20 327 254 116
2 y – Buffalo Sabres ADM 80 47 17 16 318 201 110
3 x – Montreal Canadiens NRS 80 47 20 13 328 240 107
4 Boston Bruins ADM 80 46 21 13 310 234 105
5 New York Islanders PTK 80 39 28 13 281 247 91
6 Minnesota North Stars ADM 80 36 28 16 311 253 88
7 x – Chicago Black Hawks SMY 80 34 27 19 241 250 87
8 New York Rangers PTK 80 38 32 10 308 284 86
9 Atlanta Flames PTK 80 35 32 13 282 269 83
10 St. Louis Blues SMY 80 34 34 12 266 278 80
11 Toronto Maple Leafs ADM 80 35 40 5 304 327 75
12 Los Angeles Kings NRS 80 30 36 14 290 313 74
13 Pittsburgh Penguins NRS 80 30 37 13 251 303 73
14 Hartford Whalers NRS 80 27 34 19 303 312 73
15 Vancouver Canucks SMY 80 27 37 16 256 281 70
16 Edmonton Oilers SMY 80 28 39 13 301 322 69
17 Washington Capitals PTK 80 27 40 13 261 293 67
18 Detroit Red Wings NRS 80 26 43 11 268 306 63
19 Quebec Nordiques ADM 80 25 44 11 248 313 61
20 Winnipeg Jets SMY 80 20 49 11 214 314 51
21 Colorado Rockies SMY 80 19 48 13 234 308 51

Divisions: ADM – Adams, NRS – Norris, PTK – Patrick, SMY – Smythe

bold – The top 16 teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, regardless of division or conference.
x – Won division; y – Won Conference (and division); p – Won Presidents' Trophy (and conference and division)

Record vs. opponents

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Smythe Division record vs. opponents

Vs. Campbell Conference

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Vs. Wales Conference


Playoffs

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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

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No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 10, 1979 4–2 Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 1–0–0
2 L October 13, 1979 1–5 @ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 1–1–0
3 T October 14, 1979 3–3 Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 1–1–1
4 W October 17, 1979 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 2–1–1
5 T October 20, 1979 2–2 @ Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 2–1–2
6 L October 21, 1979 0–3 Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 2–2–2
7 W October 24, 1979 4–0 Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 3–2–2
8 L October 27, 1979 4–6 @ New York Islanders (1979–80) 3–3–2
9 L October 28, 1979 1–4 Boston Bruins (1979–80) 3–4–2
10 T October 31, 1979 0–0 Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 3–4–3
11 L November 3, 1979 0–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 3–5–3
12 L November 4, 1979 3–5 Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 3–6–3
13 T November 8, 1979 3–3 @ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 3–6–4
14 W November 9, 1979 4–2 @ Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 4–6–4
15 T November 11, 1979 5–5 Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 4–6–5
16 L November 14, 1979 2–5 Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 4–7–5
17 W November 17, 1979 4–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 5–7–5
18 T November 18, 1979 3–3 Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 5–7–6
19 W November 21, 1979 4–0 Washington Capitals (1979–80) 6–7–6
20 W November 24, 1979 2–1 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 7–7–6
21 W November 25, 1979 6–3 St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 8–7–6
22 L November 28, 1979 2–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 8–8–6
23 T November 30, 1979 1–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 8–8–7
24 L December 1, 1979 0–7 @ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 8–9–7
25 T December 5, 1979 3–3 @ New York Rangers (1979–80) 8–9–8
26 T December 8, 1979 3–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 8–9–9
27 T December 9, 1979 4–4 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 8–9–10
28 L December 12, 1979 2–5 New York Rangers (1979–80) 8–10–10
29 L December 13, 1979 2–5 @ Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 8–11–10
30 W December 15, 1979 2–1 @ Boston Bruins (1979–80) 9–11–10
31 W December 16, 1979 7–3 Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 10–11–10
32 T December 19, 1979 0–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 10–11–11
33 L December 21, 1979 1–4 @ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 10–12–11
34 W December 23, 1979 8–0 New York Islanders (1979–80) 11–12–11
35 T December 26, 1979 3–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 11–12–12
36 L December 28, 1979 2–6 @ Washington Capitals (1979–80) 11–13–12
37 W December 30, 1979 5–3 Boston Bruins (1979–80) 12–13–12
38 W January 2, 1980 5–2 Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 13–13–12
39 W January 5, 1980 4–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 14–13–12
40 W January 6, 1980 3–1 Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 15–13–12
41 L January 9, 1980 1–6 Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 15–14–12
42 W January 12, 1980 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 16–14–12
43 W January 13, 1980 3–2 Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 17–14–12
44 L January 16, 1980 1–6 Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 17–15–12
45 L January 17, 1980 1–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 17–16–12
46 L January 19, 1980 3–5 @ Hartford Whalers (1979–80) 17–17–12
47 W January 20, 1980 2–1 @ New York Rangers (1979–80) 18–17–12
48 L January 23, 1980 1–4 Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 18–18–12
49 T January 25, 1980 4–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 18–18–13
50 W January 27, 1980 3–0 Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 19–18–13
51 W January 30, 1980 5–2 Washington Capitals (1979–80) 20–18–13
52 W February 2, 1980 5–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 21–18–13
53 W February 3, 1980 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 22–18–13
54 T February 6, 1980 3–3 @ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 22–18–14
55 L February 9, 1980 2–5 @ Boston Bruins (1979–80) 22–19–14
56 W February 10, 1980 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1979–80) 23–19–14
57 W February 13, 1980 3–1 New York Rangers (1979–80) 24–19–14
58 W February 17, 1980 3–2 Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 25–19–14
59 W February 20, 1980 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1979–80) 26–19–14
60 L February 23, 1980 2–6 @ Washington Capitals (1979–80) 26–20–14
61 W February 24, 1980 3–1 Buffalo Sabres (1979–80) 27–20–14
62 L February 27, 1980 2–5 Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 27–21–14
63 W March 1, 1980 4–1 @ Minnesota North Stars (1979–80) 28–21–14
64 W March 2, 1980 3–2 @ Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 29–21–14
65 T March 5, 1980 3–3 @ Vancouver Canucks (1979–80) 29–21–15
66 W March 7, 1980 4–2 @ Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 30–21–15
67 T March 8, 1980 3–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1979–80) 30–21–16
68 T March 12, 1980 6–6 Philadelphia Flyers (1979–80) 30–21–17
69 L March 14, 1980 4–6 @ Edmonton Oilers (1979–80) 30–22–17
70 L March 16, 1980 1–6 New York Islanders (1979–80) 30–23–17
71 W March 19, 1980 5–2 Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 31–23–17
72 T March 22, 1980 4–4 @ New York Islanders (1979–80) 31–23–18
73 W March 23, 1980 4–2 Atlanta Flames (1979–80) 32–23–18
74 L March 25, 1980 4–8 @ Montreal Canadiens (1979–80) 32–24–18
75 W March 26, 1980 7–2 @ Quebec Nordiques (1979–80) 33–24–18
76 T March 30, 1980 2–2 Colorado Rockies (1979–80) 33–24–19
77 L April 1, 1980 2–5 @ St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 33–25–19
78 L April 2, 1980 2–5 Winnipeg Jets (1979–80) 33–26–19
79 W April 5, 1980 3–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1979–80) 34–26–19
80 L April 6, 1980 4–5 St. Louis Blues (1979–80) 34–27–19

[4]

Chicago Black Hawks 3, St. Louis Blues 0

[edit]
# 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

[edit]
# 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

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Regular season

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Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Terry Ruskowski C 74 15 55 70 252 7 6 1 3
Tom Lysiak C 77 26 43 69 31 -7 10 0 7
Grant Mulvey RW 80 39 26 65 122 3 14 0 7
Rich Preston RW 80 31 30 61 70 16 12 2 5
Doug Wilson D 73 12 49 61 70 -5 3 1 1
Bob Murray D 74 16 34 50 60 -16 8 0 1
Ted Bulley LW 66 14 17 31 136 -12 1 0 1
Mike O'Connell D 78 8 22 30 52 -2 2 0 2
Tim Higgins RW 74 13 12 25 50 -15 2 0 0
Ron Sedlbauer LW 45 13 10 23 14 1 1 0 0
J. P. Bordeleau RW 45 7 14 21 28 3 1 0 0
John Marks LW 74 6 15 21 51 -16 1 0 1
Keith Brown D 76 2 18 20 27 7 0 0 2
Reg Kerr LW 49 9 8 17 17 -10 1 1 0
Alain Daigle RW 66 7 9 16 22 -6 0 1 0
Tim Trimper LW 30 6 10 16 10 -7 2 0 1
Greg Fox D 71 4 11 15 73 -13 0 0 1
Doug Lecuyer LW 53 3 10 13 59 -7 0 0 1
Cliff Koroll RW 47 3 4 7 6 -10 0 0 0
Stan Mikita C/RW 17 2 5 7 12 2 0 0 0
Dave Logan D 12 2 3 5 34 5 0 0 1
Dave Hutchison D 38 0 5 5 73 0 0 0 0
Pat Ribble D 23 1 2 3 14 -8 0 0 0
Darryl Sutter LW 8 2 0 2 2 1 0 0 0
Rick Paterson C 11 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0
Tony Esposito G 69 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Keith Magnuson D 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Harold Phillipoff LW 9 0 0 0 20 -3 0 0 0
Mike Veisor G 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Tony Esposito 4140 69 31 22 16 205 2.97 6
Mike Veisor 660 11 3 5 3 37 3.36 0
Team: 4800 80 34 27 19 242 3.02 6

Playoffs

[edit]
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Doug Wilson D 7 2 8 10 6 0 0 0
Tom Lysiak C 7 4 4 8 0 4 0 0
Bob Murray D 7 2 4 6 6 0 0 0
Ted Bulley LW 7 2 3 5 10 0 0 0
Doug Lecuyer LW 7 4 0 4 15 0 0 1
Darryl Sutter LW 7 3 1 4 2 2 0 1
Tim Higgins RW 7 0 3 3 10 0 0 0
Rich Preston RW 7 0 3 3 2 0 0 0
Grant Mulvey RW 7 1 1 2 8 0 0 0
Ron Sedlbauer LW 7 1 1 2 6 1 0 1
Mike O'Connell D 7 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
J. P. Bordeleau RW 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Keith Brown D 6 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Alain Daigle RW 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tony Esposito G 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Greg Fox D 7 0 0 0 8 0 0 0
Dave Hutchison D 6 0 0 0 12 0 0 0
Cliff Koroll RW 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
John Marks LW 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Rick Paterson C 7 0 0 0 5 0 0 0
Terry Ruskowski C 4 0 0 0 22 0 0 0
Tim Trimper LW 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Mike Veisor G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Tony Esposito 373 6 3 3 14 2.25 0
Mike Veisor 60 1 0 1 6 6.00 0
Team: 433 7 3 4 20 2.77 0

[5]

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;

Awards and records

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Transactions

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Draft picks

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Chicago's draft picks at the 1979 NHL Entry Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 7 Keith Brown  Canada Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
2 28 Tim Trimper  Canada Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
3 49 Bill Gardner  Canada Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
4 70 Louis Begin  Canada Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
5 91 Lowell Loveday  Canada Kingston Canadians (OMJHL)
6 112 Doug Crossman  Canada Ottawa 67's (OMJHL)

Farm teams

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See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 152. ISBN 9781894801225.
  2. ^ "1979–80 NHL Standings". NHL.com. National Hockey League.
  3. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  4. ^ "1979–80 Chicago Black Hawks Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
  5. ^ "1979-80 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
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