1965–66 Chicago Black Hawks season explained

League:	NHL
Season:	1965–66
Year:	1965
Team:	Chicago Black Hawks
Division:	NHL
Divisionrank:	2nd
Record:	37–25–8
Homerecord:	21–8–6
Roadrecord:	16–17–2
Goalsfor:	240
Goalsagainst:	187
Goalsleader:	Bobby Hull (54)
Assistsleader:	Stan Mikita (48)
Pointsleader:	Bobby Hull (97)
Pimleader:	Matt Ravlich (78)
Winsleader:	Glenn Hall (34)
Gaaleader:	Glenn Hall (2.63)

The 1965–66 Chicago Black Hawks season was the Hawks' 40th season in the NHL, and the club was coming off a third-place finish in 1964–65, as Chicago had a record of 34–28–8, earning 76 points, which was their lowest point total since 1961–62. The Hawks then upset the first place Detroit Red Wings in the NHL semi-finals, before losing to the Montreal Canadiens in seven games in the 1965 Stanley Cup Finals.^[1]

Chicago began the season very strong, going unbeaten in their first seven games, with a 6–0–1 record, before recording their first loss of the year. The Hawks continued to play very strong hockey all season long, only once did they have a losing streak of more than three games, as the club set a team record for wins with 37, and their 82 points earned was a six-point improvement over the previous season, as the Black Hawks finished second in the NHL, and earned a playoff spot for the eighth consecutive season.^[2]

On February 26, 1966, team owner James D. Norris died due to a heart attack. Norris was 59 years old.

Offensively, the Hawks were led by Bobby Hull, who had a record breaking season, as he scored an NHL record 54 goals, while earning an NHL record 97 points, as he won the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Memorial Trophy for his efforts. Stan Mikita recorded a team high 48 assists and finished second with 78 points in NHL scoring. Phil Esposito had a strong season, scoring 27 goals and 53 points, while Bill Hay had 20 goals and 51 points. Kenny Wharram and Doug Mohns each scored over 20 goals, earning 26 and 22 respectively. On the blueline, Pierre Pilote led the way, earning 36 points, while fellow defenseman Pat Stapleton earned 34 points. Matt Ravlich led the club with 78 penalty minutes.

In goal, Glenn Hall earned the majority of playing time, tying the club record with 34 victories, while posting a team best 2.63 GAA, along with 4 shutouts.^[3]

The Hawks would face the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL semi-finals for the fourth consecutive season, as the Wings finished fourth in the NHL standings with a record of 31–27–12, recording 74 points, which was eight fewer than the Black Hawks. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and the Black Hawks took a 1–0 series lead, as they defeated Detroit 2–1, however, the Red Wings evened the series up, as Detroit stunned Chicago with a 7–0 win in the second game. The series shifted to the Detroit Olympia for the next two games, however, in the third game, the Hawks took the series lead, with a 2–1 victory, but once again, the Red Wings evened the series, easily defeating Chicago 5–1 to tie the series up at two. The fifth game was played in Chicago, but it was Detroit winning the game 5–3, and taking the series lead, and the underdog Red Wings completed the upset in the sixth game held back in Detroit, as they defeated the Black Hawks 3–2 to end the series.^[4]

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record	Pts
1	October 23	Chicago Black Hawks	4–0		1–0–0	2
2	October 24	Chicago Black Hawks	6–2		2–0–0	4
3	October 28	Chicago Black Hawks	5–1		3–0–0	6
4	October 30	Chicago Black Hawks	6–4		4–0–0	8
5	November 3		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	4–0–1	9
6	November 7		0–9	Chicago Black Hawks	5–0–1	11
7	November 10		2–5	Chicago Black Hawks	6–0–1	13
8	November 13		5–2	Chicago Black Hawks	6–1–1	13
9	November 14		4–2	Chicago Black Hawks	6–2–1	13
10	November 17	Chicago Black Hawks	5–3		7–2–1	15
11	November 20	Chicago Black Hawks	1–3		7–3–1	15
12	November 21		7–3	Chicago Black Hawks	7–4–1	15
13	November 23	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2		8–4–1	17
14	November 25		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	9–4–1	19
15	November 27	Chicago Black Hawks	1–0		10–4–1	21
16	November 28		2–1	Chicago Black Hawks	10–5–1	21
17	December 1		2–4	Chicago Black Hawks	11–5–1	23
18	December 4	Chicago Black Hawks	10–1		12–5–1	25
19	December 5	Chicago Black Hawks	6–2		13–5–1	27
20	December 8		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	13–5–2	28
21	December 11	Chicago Black Hawks	1–2		13–6–2	28
22	December 12		5–3	Chicago Black Hawks	13–7–2	28
23	December 15		4–8	Chicago Black Hawks	14–7–2	30
24	December 18	Chicago Black Hawks	1–3		14–8–2	30
25	December 19		4–5	Chicago Black Hawks	15–8–2	32
26	December 22		3–4	Chicago Black Hawks	16–8–2	34
27	December 25	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5		16–9–2	34
28	December 26		1–1	Chicago Black Hawks	16–9–3	35
29	December 29	Chicago Black Hawks	3–0		17–9–3	37
30	December 31	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1		18–9–3	39
31	January 2		1–3	Chicago Black Hawks	19–9–3	41
32	January 5	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		20–9–3	43
33	January 8	Chicago Black Hawks	4–6		20–10–3	43
34	January 9		3–5	Chicago Black Hawks	21–10–3	45
35	January 13	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1		21–10–4	46
36	January 15	Chicago Black Hawks	4–6		21–11–4	46
37	January 16		6–5	Chicago Black Hawks	21–12–4	46
38	January 20	Chicago Black Hawks	3–4		21–13–4	46
39	January 22	Chicago Black Hawks	0–4		21–14–4	46
40	January 23		3–3	Chicago Black Hawks	21–14–5	47
41	January 26	Chicago Black Hawks	4–2		22–14–5	49
42	January 27	Chicago Black Hawks	3–5		22–15–5	49
43	January 29		4–4	Chicago Black Hawks	22–15–6	50
44	January 30	Chicago Black Hawks	5–1		23–15–6	52
45	February 2		3–4	Chicago Black Hawks	24–15–6	54
46	February 5	Chicago Black Hawks	2–5		24–16–6	54
47	February 6		2–3	Chicago Black Hawks	25–16–6	56
48	February 9		1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	26–16–6	58
49	February 12		2–2	Chicago Black Hawks	26–16–7	59
50	February 13		1–6	Chicago Black Hawks	27–16–7	61
51	February 16	Chicago Black Hawks	5–2		28–16–7	63
52	February 19	Chicago Black Hawks	2–5		28–17–7	63
53	February 20		1–5	Chicago Black Hawks	29–17–7	65
54	February 23		3–2	Chicago Black Hawks	29–18–7	65
55	February 26	Chicago Black Hawks	4–1		30–18–7	67
56	February 27		1–7	Chicago Black Hawks	31–18–7	69
57	March 2		4–5	Chicago Black Hawks	32–18–7	71
58	March 5	Chicago Black Hawks	0–5		32–19–7	71
59	March 6		1–0	Chicago Black Hawks	32–20–7	71
60	March 9	Chicago Black Hawks	0–1		32–21–7	71
61	March 12		2–4	Chicago Black Hawks	33–21–7	73
62	March 13		1–5	Chicago Black Hawks	34–21–7	75
63	March 16		1–4	Chicago Black Hawks	35–21–7	77
64	March 19	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4		35–22–7	77
65	March 20		2–4	Chicago Black Hawks	36–22–7	79
66	March 23	Chicago Black Hawks	1–3		36–23–7	79
67	March 27	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1		36–23–8	80
68	March 29		2–4	Chicago Black Hawks	37–23–8	82
69	April 2	Chicago Black Hawks	3–8		37–24–8	82
70	April 3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–4		37–25–8	82

Detroit Red Wings 4, Chicago Black Hawks 2

	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Record
1	April 7		1–2	Chicago Black Hawks	1–0
2	April 10		7–0	Chicago Black Hawks	1–1
3	April 12	Chicago Black Hawks	2–1		2–1
4	April 14	Chicago Black Hawks	1–5		2–2
5	April 17		5–3	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3
6	April 19	Chicago Black Hawks	2–3		2–4

Season stats

Scoring leaders

GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
65	54	43	97	70
68	30	48	78	58
69	27	26	53	49
68	20	31	51	20
70	22	27	49	63

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA
	64	3747	34	21	7	164	4	2.63
	11	453	3	4	1	23	0	3.05

Playoff stats

Scoring leaders

GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
6	2	3	5	4
6	2	2	4	10
6	1	2	3	2
3	1	1	2	0
6	1	1	2	2

Goaltending

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
	1	13	0	0	0	0	0.00
	6	347	2	4	22	0	3.80

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1965 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.

Round		Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	2			St. Michael's Buzzers (MetJHL)
2	7	Brian McKenney		Smiths Falls Bears (CJAHL)

Sources

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

Notes and References

http://hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1965.html 1964–65 NHL Season Summary – Hockey-Reference.com
http://hockey-reference.com/teams/CBH/1966_games.html 1965–66 Chicago Black Hawks Games – Hockey-Reference.com
Web site: Chicago Blackhawks goaltending history : Glenn Hall . 2008-05-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081202153445/http://www.goaliesarchive.com/hawks/indexhall.html . 2008-12-02 . dead .
http://hockey-reference.com/teams/CBH/1966.html 1965–66 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics – Hockey-Reference.com