Best of Chicago – Part 2: Blackhawks

On Friday, I began this five-part series discussing the four best teams in Bears history. Today, I will venture into Blackhawks territory. I’ll probably get some scrutiny, but that just makes it fun.

Let’s talk about who I believe are the best teams in Chicago Blackhawks history. 

Number four: 1970-71 Blackhawks

What a solid number four squad. The 70-71 Blackhawks were moved to the West Division for the start of the season as Vancouver and Buffalo came into the league as expansion teams.

This team, led by Bobby Hull, went 18-4-5 in its first 27 games to jump out to a 41-point start. Easily winning the division by 20 points (totaling 107 on the season), the Blackhawks finished the season 49-20-9 with a +93 goal differential.

The team easily dismantled the Philadelphia Flyers in the opening round with a sweep of 4-0 before squeaking out a seven-game series win against the New York Rangers in the semi-finals.

The Blackhawks battled the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup, but fell in seven games.

Hull led the team in goals (44) and assists (52) totaling 96 points. Centerman Stan Mikita tallied 72 points with 24 goals, while Dennis Hull also scored 40 goals on his way to a 66-point season. Leading the way on defense was Pat Stapleton and Bill White, accumulating a +49 and +51 +/-, respectively.

Minding the net was Tony Esposito, who won 35 of the 57 games he started. He recorded six shutouts en route to a 2.27 GAA. Backup goalie wasn’t too bad himself, as Gerry Desjardins had a 2.47 GAA with a 12-6-3 record.

Although this team fell short in the Stanley Cup, this Blackhawks team out-performed the entire league, especially within their division. They won 15 more games than second-place finisher St. Louis, and had 34 and 35 more points than Philadelphia and Minnesota, respectively.

Number three: 2009-10 Blackhawks

This team is the beginning of a modern-day dynasty. In the off-season, they added back-to-back Stanley Cup loser Marian Hossa. In doing so, then-General Manager Dale Tallon underwent investigation into his free-agent signings. And Patrick Kane was arrested just two months prior to the start of the season.

After all of that, Stan Bowman stepped in and Hossa has been a key part on the team ever since. And we know about Kaner now. So all is good, all things considered.

Despite setting a club record with 52 wins and 112 points, the Blackhawks finished just one point shy of first place in the Western Conference. Also during the season, the team had its biggest comeback in team history after trailing 5-0 in the first period to the Calgary Flames when they scored six straight to win in overtime.

The Blackhawks took down Nashville in the first-round in six games, before defeating Vancouver in six games in the conference semi’s. They were given the opportunity to battle the one-seed San Jose Sharks, and easily took care of business with a sweep. The Blackhawks were to see Philadelphia in the Stanley Cup final.

The upset-minded Flyers were led by Chris Pronger on the defense. However, Kane ended the series in six games when he snuck the puck past goalie Michael Leighton to win the team’s fourth Stanley Cup.

Kane led the team in points during the season with 88 after a 30-goal performance. Duncan Keith had 55 assists, while Captain Jonathan Toews had 25 goals and 43 assists. Despite missing the first 22 games, Hossa recorded 51 points with 24 goals.

Antti Niemi took over in net the second-half of the season, finishing with a 26-7-4 record before winning the Cup as the primary goalie.

The team scored 271 goals (3.3 per game) while only surrendering 209 (2.54 per game) on the season.

Number two: 1992-93 Blackhawks

The season before, the Blackhawks almost won the Stanley Cup. However, big changes were made heading into the 92-93 campaign.

After changing head coaches and trading future Hall of Fame goalie Domineck Hasek, the Blackhawks were not expected to be as good as what they were.

Getting off to a 2-5-1 start is not ideal. However, winning six-of-seven in December set the tone for the rest of the season. The team finished with 106 points and 47 wins – just three points ahead of Detroit.

The Blackhawks won five-of-seven to end the season (two ties) and head into the playoffs with Norris Division title. Unfortunately, the Blackhawks fell to St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs and were swept away like the regular season meant nothing.

Over the course of the entire season, the Blackhawks led the league in shutouts, fewest goals against, fewest even-strength goals against, and power-play opportunities.

Jeremy Roenick scored 50 goals and tallied 57 points for 107 points. Defenseman Chris Chelios had 58 assists, while also totaling 282 penalty minutes. Winger Steve Larmer had a very balanced attack, scoring 35 goals while dishing out 35 assists.

Net-minder Ed Balfour went 41-18-11 while recording nine shutouts and a 2.59 GAA. He led the league among goaltenders with 71 games and 4,106 minutes.

This team fell short in the playoffs by a wide margin, but we can’t ignore what they did in the regular season. Despite everything that happened prior the season starting, the Blackhawks overcame a tough start to win 47 games with six skaters recording at least 54 points.

Number one: 2012-13 Blackhawks

Don’t mind the strike-strickened season because these Blackhawks went on a tear in the 48-game regular season.

The Blackhawks began the season setting a new NHL record with at least one point in each of the first 24 games of the season. They would go on to set a new record with wins before a loss to begin a season with 11. The team was 21-0-3 after 24 games.

The Blackhawks would go on to finish the regular season with a record of 36-7-5. They won 18 games each at home and on the road while only surrendering 102 goals the entire season.

Winning the Presidents Trophy with 77 points in the regular season, the Blackhawks would also go on to win their second Stanley Cup in four seasons. The playoffs didn’t come without controversy, however. After handling Minnesota in five games, the Blackhawks got down 3-1 to Detroit. The team would go on to win three straight and head to the conference finals against the reigning-champ Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings proved to not be a problem as the Blackhawks finished them off in five to head to the Final against Boston. As the season was shortened, teams would only play games against conference and division opponents. The Stanley Cup was the only games in which teams from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference played each other during the season.

After winning the first game of the series, the Bruins took a 2-1 series lead. The Blackhawks forced overtime in game four and eventually won to tie the series. They would also go on to win the next two games (including the infamous two goals in 17 seconds to tie and take the lead in game six) to become Stanley Cup champions.

Kane and Toews tied for the team-lead in goals with 23, while Kane led the team in points with 55. Corey Crawford and Ray Emery would be the dynamic duo in net as they each had a 1.94 GAA. Emery went 17-1, while Crawford went 19-5-5.

So, what do you think? Do the 2012-13 Blackhawks deserve to be called the best in team history because of the strike-shortened season? Or what other teams did I neglect?

Who knows…maybe this year’s team could crack into the top four.