Chicago Black Hawks (NHL, 1954-55)

1954-55 Regular Season:
Black Hawks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

      The Chicago Black Hawks were coming off a disastrous season in 1953-54 season, which saw the team set franchise records for fewest wins and points. That ugly season cost Head Coach Sid Abel his job, replaced by former Canadiens and Rangers defenseman Frank Eddolls. Eddolls was just 33 years old when he took the Hawks job, and had a daunting task ahead of him, trying to pull the woeful Black Hawks out of the NHL basement. Former Red Wings Head Coach Tommy Ivan was hired as General Manager after leading the Wings to three Stanley Cups. The team continued playing at Chicago Stadium, it's home since 1929.

     Unfortunately for Eddolls, 1954-55 wasn't much better. Chicago still owned last place in the NHL, with an ugly 13-40-17 record. The Black Hawks were just nine points back of the fifth place New York Rangers, but 24 behind the fourth place Boston Bruins and 52 behind league-best Detroit. Chicago sports fans continued to stay away in droves. Attendance continued to drop to 6,299 per game at 16,666-seat Chicago Stadium, or just 38% capacity, worst in the league. The Hawks resorted to scheduling eight neutral site games throughout the Midwest, including St. Louis, Missouri, Omaha, Nebraska, and St. Paul, Minnesota. 

     Chicago placed fourth in the NHL in offense with their 161 goals scored. Center Red Sullivan, recently acquired from Boston, led the Black Hawks with 19 goals and 61 points. Calder Trophy winner Ed Litzenberger, picked up from Montreal midway through the season, was next, with 16 goals and 40 points in just 44 games. Longtime Maple Leaf left winger Harry Watson had 30 points with 14 goals. Bill Mosienko played in his final NHL season, scoring 12 goals and 27 points in 67 games. 

     The Black Hawks again allowed the most goals in the league with 235. Once again, Chicago used three different goaltenders, with Al Rollins playing the most games. Rollins was in net for 44 games, going 9-27-8 with a 3.39 GAA, 8.93 save percentage and no shutouts. Due to injuries, 21-year old Hank Bassen saw his first NHL action, playing in 22 games, finishing with a 4-9-8 record and no shutouts. His save percentage and GAA were better than Rollins, as Bassen had a 3.00 GAA and .914 save percentage. Ray Frederick saw his only NHL action that year, playing in five games with a 0-4-1 record, 4.40 GAA and .871 save percentage and no shutouts. The leading scorer on defense was Allan Stanley, acquired from New York, who had 10 goals and 25 points in 52 games.

     Once again, the Black Hawks were nowhere near the postseason. Frank Eddolls returned to the AHL's Buffalo Bisons as Head Coach. He would be replaced in Chicago by former Leafs and Canadiens coach Dick Irvin.

 

   This program is from the January 16, 1955 contest between the Black Hawks and Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs won this game, 4-2, in front of 7,180 fans at Chicago Stadium. The loss dropped the Black Hawks to 8-26-9, continuing a six-game winless streak. As you can see, there are some new faces to the Chicago roster. NHL teams began air-lifting talent to the floundering Black Hawks to try and get the team competitive and draw larger crowds. The Black Hawks picked up eight players from the other NHL teams. Chicago did have a few future Hall of Famers, despite the poor regular season: Allan Stanley, Harry Watson, Bill Mosienko and GM Tommy Ivan. Despite winning a Stanley Cup, a Vezina Trophy and a Hart Trophy and generally regarded as one of the better netminders in the NHL at the time, Al Rollins is still not in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

     Toronto went through some lean seasons after winning the Stanley Cup in 1951. They typically would finish in third place in the standings and would be blown away by Detroit in the first round. 1954-55 was no different, as the Leafs had a mediocre 24-22-22 record, 25 points back of first-place Detroit. The Leafs were slowly transitioning away from the core of their late 1940s dynasty, adding new faces such as Tim Horton, Eric Nesterenko, Larry Cahan, Parker MacDonald and George Armstrong. Leafs Great King Clancy was behind the bench and would go on to a long career as an executive with the Leafs during the Harold Ballard ownership era. Harry Lumley was back in goal for Toronto, and had another strong season despite an extremely weak offense, going 23-24-22 with a 1.93 GAA, .923 save percentage and eight shutouts. Future Hall of Famers in Toronto included Horton, Armstrong, Lumley, Ted Kennedy and King Clancy.  

     The next Black Hawks game would be next Sunday vs. the Montreal Canadiens. A cartoon and paragraph featuring Canadiens superstar Maurice "Rocket" Richard is on page 2.

     Much like the 1953-54 program, this is a 19-page program, all in black and white and loaded with advertisements. Similar setup as well, with the "Hawk of the Week" on page 4, this time being leading scorer Red Sullivan. Explanation of hockey penalties are on page 5. The Black Hawks roster with height, weight and birthplace is on pages 8-9. The description of the playing surface with the correct dimensions is on page 15. Chicago Stadium was also hosting college basketball doubleheaders, featuring teams such as Michigan State, Western Michigan, Kentucky and Notre Dame. Local advertisements include Richmar hot dogs, Roman Village Pizzeria, Graemere Hotel (featuring 90¢ roast beef sandwiches), Flip's Grill ("Chicken Fit for a King") and Goodman's Ice Cream.

Aftermath: The Chicago Black Hawks would continue to flounder until the late 1950s, when players such as Bobby Hull, Glenn Hall, Pierre Pilote and Stan Mikita would join the roster by either trades or call-ups from farm teams. Chicago would finally make the playoffs in 1958-59, and would win the Stanley Cup in 1960-61. Attendance began to climb at Chicago Stadium, which eventually turned into the loudest arena in the NHL, nicknamed "The Madhouse on Madison".

Reference:

National Hockey League Statistics: 1954-55, from hockeydb.com