The 1954–55

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

season was the team's 29th

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

, and the team was coming off a season in 1953–54 when they set the NHL record for losses in a season with 51, finishing in last place in the NHL, and missing the playoffs for the seventh time in eight seasons. Due to poor attendances at home games, the Blackhawks played eight scheduled games at neutral venues. Six games were played at

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

, one at

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, and one game at

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...

. It was a busy off-season for Chicago, as Bill Tobin was replaced by

Tommy Ivan Thomas Nathaniel Ivan (January 31, 1911 – June 25, 1999) was a Canadian ice hockey coach and general manager. He served as a National Hockey League (NHL) head coach for the Detroit Red Wings from 1947 to 1954 where he won three Stanley Cups, a ...

as general manager of the club. Ivan had previously been the head coach of the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

from 1947 to 1954, winning three

Stanley Cups The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

with the team. He hired

Frank Eddolls Frank Herbert Eddolls (July 5, 1921 – August 13, 1961) was a defenceman in the National Hockey League who played for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, and coached the Chicago Black Hawks in 1954–55. He won the Stanley Cup with Mont ...

to be his head coach, as player-coach

Sid Abel Sidney Gerald Abel (February 22, 1918February 8, 2000) was a Canadian Hall of Fame hockey player, coach and general manager in the National Hockey League, most notably for the Detroit Red Wings, and was a member of three Stanley Cup-winning team ...

was let go after the 1953–54 season. Eddolls had previously been a player-coach of the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

of the AHL. One of Ivan's first moves as the general manager of the team was to build a farm system, as the Black Hawks were the only team in the NHL without one. During the season, the Hawks were involved in a number of trades, including acquiring

Ed Litzenberger Edward Charles John "Eddie" Litzenberger (July 15, 1932 – November 1, 2010) was a Canadian ice hockey right winger from Neudorf, Saskatchewan. Litzenberger was "donated" to the Chicago Black Hawks by the Montreal Canadiens in his first year in ...

from the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

, and getting

Allan Stanley Allan Herbert Stanley (March 1, 1926 – October 18, 2013) was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who played for the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hocke ...

and

Nick Mickoski Nicholas Mickoski (December 7, 1927 – March 13, 2002) was a Canadian ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League with four teams between 1948 and 1960. The rest of his career, which lasted from 1945 to 1965, was spent in variou ...

in a trade with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

. The Litzenberger trade paid off immediately, as he was awarded the

Calder Memorial Trophy The Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League (NHL)." It is named after Frank Calder, the first president of the NHL. Serving as ...

for the best rookie in the league. It would be another long season in Chicago, with wins few and far between. The team only won consecutive games twice throughout the season, and had numerous losing streaks. The Hawks finished the year with a 13–40–17 record, earning 43 points, which represented a 12-point increase over the previous season; however, the club finished in last place in the league for the second year in a row. Offensively, Chicago was led by Red Sullivan, whom the team acquired in the off-season. Sullivan scored a team-high 19 goals and 42 assists for 61 points, which ranked him sixth in the NHL. Rookie

contributed with 16 goals and 40 points in 44 games with Chicago, while Harry Watson scored 14 goals and 30 points in 43 games before being dealt to the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

Jack McIntyre John Archibald "Jack" McIntyre (September 8, 1930 in Brussels, Ontario – March 15, 1998) was a Canadian ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League between 1950 and 1960. Playing career McIntyre played 499 National Hockey League ...

led the Hawks blueline with 16 goals and 29 points, while fellow defenceman

scored 10 goals and 25 points in 52 games after being acquired from the

. Gord Hollingworth led the Hawks with 135 penalty minutes, while team captain Gus Mortson was right behind him, getting 133. In goal, Al Rollins played in 44 games, winning a club-high 9 of them, while posting a GAA of 3.39. Backup goaltender Hank Bassen posted a record of 4–9–8, leading the club with a 3.00 GAA.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Regular season

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Goaltending

References

Sources

Hockey-Reference
* National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:1954-55 Chicago Black Hawks season Chicago Blackhawks seasons

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...