Canadiens1958
Registered User
It seems Chicago gave up a ton of PPGA in the playoffs from 1962-68:
Counting 1961 (when they won) it's a still high 77 PPGA in 74 games. Pilote wasn't often a highly used PK guy judging from the +/- data (18 PPGA from 62-68, mostly in 62 and 67). While keeping Pilote off of the PK may have been because of his size, Beliveau wasn't highly effective at ES (when Pilote was more likely to be out) until Pilote's last year in Chicago. The only real standout against Chicago at even strength was the fairly normal-sized Norm Ullman (24 ESP in 26 GP).[TBODY] [/TBODY]
Tm GP PPGA PPGA/GP Chicago 62 69 1.11 Toronto 58 42 0.72 Montreal 64 41 0.64 Detroit 44 33 0.75 NY Rangers 16 12 0.75 St. Louis 18 12 0.67 Minnesota 14 8 0.57 Philadelphia 7 4 0.57 Los Angeles 7 4 0.57 Boston 4 3 0.75
Whether it was from taking a bunch of penalties or simply not being able to kill them, PPGA seems to be a contributing factor in Chicago's inability to win in the playoffs after 1961.
Pilote's regular defensive partner was Moose Vasko obviously big and talented
1961 Chicago had big d-men St.Laurent, Evans who concussed Beliveau in the semis, Arbour. Arbour was claimed by Toronto in the June draft.
1962 Evans and St.Laurent had aged. St.Laurent retired in 1962 while Evans left the NHL in 1963. Both had slowed noticably. replaced by rookies and journeymen.
Stan Mikita their best PK forward was also the playoff PIM leader in 1965:
1964-65 Chicago Black Hawks Roster and Statistics | Hockey-Reference.com
Not an ideal situation since after 1961 Pilote was overplayed come the playoffs.