1982–83 Chicago Black Hawks season


The 1982–83 Chicago Black Hawks season was the 57th season of operation of the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League.

Offseason

During the off-season, the Black Hawks hired Orval Tessier to become the head coach of the club. Tessier spent parts of three seasons playing in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins from 1954-1961. As a head coach, Tessier led the Cornwall Royals to the 1972 Memorial Cup championship, and also led the Kitchener Rangers to the 1981 Memorial Cup final. Tessier then led the New Brunswick Hawks to the 1981-82 Calder Cup. This would be Tessier's first NHL head coaching job.
At the 1982 NHL Entry Draft, the Black Hawks selected Ken Yaremchuk with their first round draft pick, seventh overall. Yaremchuk played with the Portland Winter Hawks of the WHL in 1981-82, scoring 58 goals and 157 points in 72 games.
The club also named Darryl Sutter as the new team captain, as former captain Terry Ruskowski would be traded to the Los Angeles Kings early in the season.
With the Colorado Rockies relocating to East Rutherford, New Jersey and becoming the New Jersey Devils, the NHL made a minor realignment of the divisions. The Devils moved from the Smythe Division to the Patrick Division, while the Winnipeg Jets moved from the Norris Division into the Smythe Division.

Regular season

The Black Hawks got off to a quick start, as through their first 25 games, Chicago had a league best record of 17-3-5, earning 39 points. The club continued their torrid pace, as they had a 25-6-6 record through their first 37 games before going into a slump where they lost five of their next seven games. Chicago would attempt to strengthen their club, acquiring Curt Fraser from the Vancouver Canucks for former first round draft pick Tony Tanti. The Black Hawks continued their winning ways, and finished the season with a 47-23-10 record, earning 104 points, and finishing in first place in the Norris Division, fourth overall in the NHL. This marked the first time since 1973-74 that the Hawks finished with over 100 points.
Offensively, Chicago was led by Denis Savard, who scored 35 goals and a club record 121 points. Steve Larmer had a breakout season, scoring 43 goals and 90 points, while finishing with a team high +44 rating. Al Secord scored a team high 54 goals, and finished with 86 points, as well as leading the team with 180 penalty minutes. Darryl Sutter reached the 30 goal plateau for the second time in his career, as he finished with 31 goals and 61 points. On defence, Doug Wilson led the way, scoring 18 goals and 69 points, while Doug Crossman had 13 goals and 53 points.
In goal, Murray Bannerman appeared in 41 games, going 24-12-5 with a 3.10 GAA, while earning four shutouts. Tony Esposito split time with him, playing in 39 games, going 23-11-5 with a 3.46 GAA and one shutout.

Final standings

Schedule and results

Playoffs

Chicago Black Hawks 3, St. Louis Blues 1

The Black Hawks opened the playoffs with a best-of-five Norris Division semi-final series against the St. Louis Blues, who finished the season with a 25-40-15 record, earning 65 points, which was 39 fewer than the Black Hawks. Chicago eliminated the Blues in the 1982 NHL Playoffs. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and with the Black Hawks taking a 2-0 lead into the third period, the Blues stunned Chicago, scoring four unanswered goals, winning the series opener by a 4-2 score. The Black Hawks rebounded in the second game, led by Denis Savard and his two goals in a 7-2 blowout victory to tie the series up at 1-1. The series shifted to The Checkerdome in St. Louis, Missouri for the next two games, and the Black Hawks, who scored two first period goals, were able to hold off the Blues for a close 2-1 victory in the third game of the series. Murray Bannerman made 25 saves as Chicago took the series lead. In the fourth game, Steve Larmer broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third period, while Darryl Sutter scored an empty netter to clinch the series for the Black Hawks, defeating the Blues 5-3 in the game, and 3-1 in the series.
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 6St. Louis Blues4–2Chicago Black Hawks0-1
2April 7St. Louis Blues2–7Chicago Black Hawks1-1
3April 9Chicago Black Hawks2–1St. Louis Blues2-1
4April 10Chicago Black Hawks5–3St. Louis Blues3-1

Chicago Black Hawks 4, Minnesota North Stars 1

In the best-of-seven Norris Division finals, the Black Hawks faced the Minnesota North Stars, who finished second in the division with a 40–24–16 record, earning 96 points, eight fewer than Chicago. In the first round of the playoffs, the North Stars defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in four games. In the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Black Hawks eliminated Minnesota in the first round. The series opened with two games at Chicago Stadium, and in the series opener, the two teams were tied at 2–2 after the second period. In the third, the Black Hawks' Curt Fraser broke the tie with just under seven minutes remaining, followed by a goal by Denis Savard and an empty-net goal by Doug Wilson to win the game 5–2 and take the early series lead. In the second game, the Black Hawks were paced by Denis Savard and Steve Larmer, who each recorded four-point games, to defeat the North Stars 7–4 and send the series to Minnesota up 2–0. The next two games were played at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the North Stars, led by three points by Brad Maxwell and 23 saves by Gilles Meloche, cut the Black Hawks lead in half with a 5–1 victory. In the fourth game, Minnesota took a 3–0 lead midway through the second period before Chicago responded with three goals, two by Tom Lysiak, to send the game into overtime. In the extra period, the Black Hawks' Rich Preston was the hero, as Chicago completed the comeback, defeating the North Stars 4–3, and taking a 3–1 series lead back to Chicago. In the fifth game, the Black Hawks, who had two shorthanded goals, defeated the North Stars, 5–2, winning the series four games to one.
No.DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 14Minnesota North Stars2–5Chicago Black Hawks1-0
2April 15Minnesota North Stars4–7Chicago Black Hawks2-0
3April 17Chicago Black Hawks1–5Minnesota North Stars2-1
4April 18Chicago Black Hawks4–3Minnesota North Stars3-1
5April 20Minnesota North Stars2–5Chicago Black Hawks4-1

Edmonton Oilers 4, Chicago Black Hawks 0

The Black Hawks advanced to the Campbell Conference finals for the second consecutive year, this time facing the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton finished the season with a 47-21-12 record, earning 106 points, two more than the Hawks. In the post-season, the Oilers swept the Winnipeg Jets in the first round, and defeated the Calgary Flames in five games in the Smythe Division finals. The series opened with two games at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton, Alberta, and the Oilers, led by a five-point game from Wayne Gretzky, easily defeated the Black Hawks 8-4 to take the first game of the series. In the second game, the Oilers continued their dominance, as Glenn Anderson had four goals, while Mark Messier had three, leading Edmonton to an 8-2 win. The series shifted to Chicago Stadium for the next two games, and Edmonton held a 2-0 lead after two periods in the third game. Chicago responded with goals by Steve Larmer and Denis Savard to tie the game, however, the Oilers Glenn Anderson broke the tie late in the third, leading Edmonton to a 3-2 victory, as the Oilers took a 3-0 series lead. Edmonton stormed out of the gate in the fourth game, taking an early 4-0 lead, as they coasted to a 6-3 victory, sweeping the Black Hawks out of the playoffs.
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1April 24Chicago Black Hawks4–8Edmonton Oilers0-1
2April 26Chicago Black Hawks2–8Edmonton Oilers0-2
3May 1Edmonton Oilers3–2Chicago Black Hawks0-3
4May 3Edmonton Oilers6–3Chicago Black Hawks0-4

Player stats

Regular season

;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIM+/-PPGSHGGWG
C78358612199261304
RW8043479028441309
LW80543286180342006
D741851695822303
LW8031306153181005
C612338612713604
RW792528536414402
D801340534621601
C771525401210202
D79732397324501
D5042731208200
C6661925637000
RW641492363-4002
C791492314-1132
RW686142055-8002
LW3861319772002
D78612186915000
C54881627-4102
RW41781526000
D76012128111000
D3901111469000
LW42134-1000
C5022120000
RW110100000
G4101120000
D100000000
G3900000000
RW300000000

;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLTGAGAASO
246041241251273.104
234039231151353.461
Team:4800804723102623.275

Playoffs

;Scoring
PlayerPosGPGAPtsPIMPPGSHGGWG
C13891722301
D134111512010
C1367138202
RW1157128201
LW12471166100
LW1346108000
D1337106100
RW1327925001
LW1344818101
C1335820000
D1323510100
RW1313410000
D1303322000
C131124011
RW120220000
D50222000
D131014000
C131019100
G80110000
D700011000
RW10000000
G50000000
C20000000

;Goaltending
PlayerMINGPWLGAGAASO
480844324.000
311532183.470
Team:7911376503.790

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

Transactions

Roster

Draft picks

Chicago's draft picks at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec.
Round#PlayerNationalityCollege/Junior/Club Team
17Ken YaremchukPortland Winter Hawks
228Rene BadeauQuebec Remparts
349Tom McMurchyBrandon Wheat Kings
470Bill WatsonPrince Albert Raiders
591Brad BeckPenticton Knights
6112Mark HatcherNiagara Falls Flyers
7133Jay NessRoseau High School
8154Jeff SmithLondon Knights
9175Phil PattersonOttawa 67's
10196Jim CamazzolaPenticton Knights
11217Mike JamesOttawa Generals
12238Bob AndreaDartmouth Arrows

Farm teams