April 12, 1938: The Stanley Cup is won -- but is not presented. The National Hockey League knew that the former could happen on this night, but did not arrange for the latter to happen. Oops.
The Chicago Black Hawks, named for a Native chief in Illinois in the early 19th Century -- and this is one Native American nickname that very few people have objected to -- were founded in 1926, reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1931, and won the Cup in 1934. But the Great Depression wrought havoc on them, as did the death from a tonsil infection of goaltender Charlie Gardiner right after the 1934 win.
The team finished the 1937-38 regular season with 37 points, with a 14–25–9 record. They were only .500 at home, 10-10-4, and a terrible 4-15-5 on the road. They scored an NHL-low 97 goals, while giving up the 2nd-most goals in the league at 139. Still, they managed to earn a Playoff spot by finishing 2 points ahead of their geographic rivals, the Detroit Red Wings, clinching 3rd place in the American Division.
Team owner Frederick McLaughlin was American, a Chicago native. That was no surprise. What was a surprise was just how American this team was, given Canada's dominance of the sport at the time. Head coach Bill Stewart grew up in Boston, umpired in baseball's National League from 1933 to 1954, coached hockey in the Boston area at the high school and college level, and, in 1928, became the NHL's 1st American-born referee.
Regular goaltender Mike Karakas was from Eveleth, a town in the "Iron Range" of northeastern Minnesota, not far from the Canadian border. This town produced several of America's pre-1980 "Miracle" players, and is even the home of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame. (If you're thinking of visiting, be aware that it's a long way to go: Almost 200 miles north of Minneapolis, almost 60 miles northwest of Duluth. And there's not a whole lot around it that would interest the non-hockey fan.)
Left wing Louis Trudel was from Salem, Massachusetts, although his parents were from Montreal and he grew up in Edmonton. Center Carl Voss was also from the Boston area, from Chelsea, Massachusetts, but moved to Canada as a teenager, and played high school football (the 12-man, 3-downs Canadian variety) and hockey there.
Defenseman Alex Levinsky was from Syracuse, New York. Defenseman Roger Jenkins was from Appleton, Wisconsin. Center Carol "Cully" Dahlstrom and defenseman Virgil Johnson were from Minneapolis. Center Elwin "Doc" Romnes was from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. So that's 8 Americans on a roster that usually had 18 men.
Everyone else was Canadian: Left wing Bert Connelly from Quebec; center Jack Shill, left wing Pete Palangio, and defensemen Earl Seibert and Harold Jackson from Ontario; backup goalie Paul Goodman, defenseman Bill MacKenzie from Manitoba; left wing Johnny Gottselig, right wing Harold "Mush" March and defenseman Art Wiebe from Saskatchewan; left wing Paul Thompson from Alberta. (Gottselig, the team Captain, was actually born in the Ukraine, but grew up in Regina.)
In the Quarterfinals, the Black Hawks faced the Montreal Canadiens, beating them 2 games to 1, clinching at the Montreal Forum. In the Semifinals, they lost the 1st game to the New York Americans, before taking the next 2, and advancing to the Finals against the heavily-favored Toronto Maple Leafs.
Karakas broke a toe in the Semifinals, and backup goalie Paul Goodman did not arrive at Maple Leaf Gardens in time for puck-drop of Game 1. Stewart started Alfie Moore in goal. The Toronto native had played in the minor leagues since 1926, but had only played 18 games in the NHL, with the Americans in 1936-37. He had spent the 1937-38 season with the Pittsburgh Hornets, then a farm team of the Red Wings. Leafs owner Conn Smythe was willing to allow him in goal, and the Hawks won.
League President Frank Calder ruled that Moore was ineligible, but allowed the Hawks' victory to stand. Goodman played and lost Game 2. Karakas decided to tough it out and play the rest of the way, wearing a steel toe in his skate to protect his injured foot.
This would be the last time that the Stanley Cup Finals were a best-3-out-of-5. They have been a best-4-out-of-7 ever since. The Hawks won Game 1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, 3-1. The Leafs took Game 2 at home, 5-1. The action moved to the Chicago Stadium, and the Hawks won Game 3, 2-1. In the 1st period of Game 4, Cully Dahlstrom scored for Chicago, but Gordie Drillon tied it up. Carl Voss and Jack Shill scored late in the 2nd period. Mush March scored near the end to put it away, 4-1. The NHL put the Cup on a train in Chicago, and it arrived at the Stadium the next day.
The 1938 result ranks as perhaps the greatest upset in Stanley Cup Finals history, along with that of 1971, which didn't work out so well for the Black Hawks, as they lost to the Canadiens.
McLaughlin was known for firing coaches very quickly, and Stewart was fired before the end of the 1938-39 season. He went back to refereeing, and remained in the NHL until 1941, before switching to baseball umpiring full-time. He died in 1964.
Seibert were elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Gottselig, March and Thompson should be, but never have been. Voss would later become one of American hockey's leading officials and, like McLaughlin, was elected to the Hall of Fame in the "Builder" category.
The way things worked out, no Chicago team would clinch a World Championship at home again until the 1992 Bulls, and the Hawks would not clinch at home again until 2015. In 1986, the team's original NHL charter was found. After 60 years playing as the "Black Hawks," 2 words, the charter was seen to have the name listed as 1 word, "Blackhawks." The NHL was notified, and the team has officially been the "Chicago Blackhawks" ever since.
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April 12, 1938 was a Tuesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. And the NBA hadn't been founded yet. So this was the only score on his historic day.
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