A Look Blackhawks Goalies: The Early Years

Its saturday and RTB is tired of all the front office crap so we are taking a stroll down memory lane looking at some goalies who have donned the indian head.

1926-27: Black Hawks First Season

Acquired for cash from the Vancouver Millionaires on October 9, 1926, Frederick Hugh Lehman (left) has the distinction of being the first ever goaltender to suit up for the Hawks.

Known as "Old Eagle Eyes", Lehman was a veteran of 2o professional seasons when he joined the expansion Blackhawks for the 1926-27 season. He played 44 games that first year posting a 2.49 goals against average to go along with 19 wins and 5 shutouts. A good puckhandler, he is credited with being the first goalie to regularly pass the puck up to his teammates.

1927-34: Black Hawks capture their first Stanley Cup

In 1927, twenty-two year old Charles Robert "Chuck" Gardiner took over the goaltending duties from an aging Hugh Lehman. Originally pencilled in to be Lehman's understudy, the kid with lightning fast reflexes quickly pushed past Lehman to become Chicago's number one.

In his first two seasons in the Hawks net, Gardiner would find the win column just 13 times in 84 starts. It was a rough beginning for a young goalie playing on some bad teams, but better days lay ahead.

He was named to his first All-Star team in 30-31, the following season an emerging Gardiner captured his first Vezina trophy and was elected to a second All-Star team.

By the 1933-34 season, Chuck Gardiner had arrived. Named captain of the Hawks that year, he would lead his team through the now 48 game regular season notching 20 wins and posting 1.63 goals against. In the playoffs he was clutch. The Hawks knocked off both Montreal teams, the Canadiens and the Maroons, en route to the Stanley Cup Final against the hated Red Wings.

Chicago would go on to win the series 3 games to 1 and capture their first Stanley Cup.

Gardiner was brilliant throughout the playoffs posting a miniscule 1.33 goals against average. He won six of the eight games he played, including a double overtime shutout victory in the Cup clinching game. He was awarded his second Vezina and named to his fourth All-Star team.

Sadly, just weeks after winning the Stanley Cup, Gardiner died of a brain hemorrhage, he was just 29 years old.

1934-35: Lorne Chabot

The Black Hawks entered the 1934-35 campaign with heavy hearts.

They were the defending champs, but had lost their All-Star goalie and team captain. On October 3, 1934 the Hawks sent Lionel Conacher, Roger Jenkins and Leroy Goldsworthy to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Howie Morenz, Marty Burke and goaltender Lorne Chabot.

Chabot who was known to shave before every game because he felt that stitches were less likely to leave scars on a fresh shaved face, would play only one season in the windy city and was subsequently dealt back to the Canadiens on February 8, 1936. One week later he was traded again.

For his part, Chabot played well during his short stay in Chicago. He won his only Vezina as a member of the Hawks that year and posted sparkling numbers: 26 wins 1.80 goals against in the regular season, shrinking to 0.48 in the playoffs.

1935-40: The Karakas Era

An injury to Lorne Chabot paved the way for a young Minnesotan to man the Chicago goal in 1935.

"Iron" Mike Karakas, a native of Minnesota, had been playing with the Tulsa Oilers of the old American Hockey Association when he got the chance to play in the show. After 4 wins in 4 games, three of them shutouts, he was made the full time goalkeeper in Chi Town.

Praised for his quick glove and uncanny balance, Karakas went on to win the Calder trophy as rookie of the year in 35-36. He finished that season with 21 wins, 9 shutouts and a gleaming 1.85 goals against mark.

Two years later, the Black Hawks limped into the playoffs with a record of 14-25-9 and stunned the hockey world with their march to a second Stanley Cup championship. Karakas suffered a broken toe and missed the first two games of the Stanley Cup final against Toronto. Chicago won the first one and lost the second. "Iron Mike" returned for games three and four wearing a steel toe boot to protect his foot and led the Hawks to wins in both games. Handing the Indian Heads the Stanley Cup.

After leading the Hawks to a championship in 1938, Karakas asked the Hawks for a $500 dollar raise which was refused and he was soon on his way out of Chicago. In 1939, he was suspended by the Hawks for refusing a demotion to Providence. The suspension was lifted by the league and he was sent out on loan to the Montreal Canadiens.