1937-38 Chicago Blackhawks Were Atrocious But Still Won The Cup

Published on October 3rd, 2021 11:36 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Who was the worst team to ever win the Stanley Cup?

To find out the answer to this question, you need to go far into the past.

After all, in the "modern" era of the NHL, there is simply too much parity and the grind is too long for any Stanley Cup winner to be considered the "worst".

If you win all four rounds of a Stanley Cup playoff, you must be a legitimate team.

So, to find the truly "worst" team to ever win the Stanley Cup, we need to go far into the past.

We need to go all the way back to the 1937-38 season, when the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup.

In the 1937-38 season, eight teams played a total of 48 games.

At the end of the regular season, the Blackhawks finished with a record of 14-25-9, for a total of 37 points. The Blackhawks finished a total of 30 points behind the Boston Bruins, who finished at the top of the American Division.

The league had an odd playoff format in 1937-38. The top two teams in each division (Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins) received first-round byes, though they played each other in the semi-finals.

In the quarter-finals you had Chicago vs the Montreal Canadiens, as well as the New York Americans vs the New York Rangers.

The Montreal Canadiens were mediocre in 1937-38, as they only finished one game over .500.

The Chicago Blackhawks, after losing Game 1 of the three game quarter-final by a score of 6-4, ended up winning the next two games to move on to the semi-finals.

The Boston Bruins, the league's best team by a considerable margin, would lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the semi-finals.

The Chicago Blackhawks, on the other hand, would draw another team that barely finished over .500 in the regular season, the New York Americans.

A familiar script would be followed - the Blackhawks would lose the first game of the series, only to come back and win the next two games.

The Blackhawks would go on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Finals by a series score of 3-1.

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Not only did the Blackhawks finish with a record of 14-25-9 in the regular season, but they also finished last in Goals For (just 97 goals in 48 games) and second-last in Goals Against.