Black Hawks Advance to Stanley Cup Final

Apr. 15, 1965 - Chicago’s Black Hawks finally broke through the jinx and the debris of the Detroit Olympia tonight and crashed into the Stanley Cup finals for only the seventh time since 1926, when they dropped the name of the Portland Rosebuds and became part of the Chicago sports scene. 

The 4-2 victory qualified them for the World Series of hockey — a best-of-seven set that will open Saturday night in Montreal against the Canadiens, the other semifinalists who eliminated the Maple Leafs in six games.

It was only the third Hawk playoff victory on the Olympia ice since 1961, when the Hawks clinched the Stanley Cup. The other came last year in a sudden death overtime on Murray Balfour’s goal.

The crowd, numbering 15,006, bore down on the Hawks with jeers and raucous shouts. Eggs and the usual octopus were among the missiles hurled to the ice. But in the end, the fans remained to cheer as both teams lined up for a good fellowship exchange.

The Hawks almost coasted through a first period against the Wings, who were injury-wracked but who stormed out to a 2-0 lead. The Hawks, still skating lackadaisically but with a tighter defense, tied it with a pair of goals in the second period. Then in the 10th minute of the third, they stormed on for the winning goal by Stan Mikita and the cushion by Eric Nesterenko.

Both coaches, Billy Reay of Chicago and Sid Abel of Detroit, agreed the game actually was won in the second period, when the Hawks scored two goals to tie the score.

Abel said: “The turning point came when they got their first goal, and we were short two men. We had the momentum up until that point, and they had it the rest of the way. And the tying goal really killed us.

“They just kept getting stronger and stronger. To tell you the truth, I think they’ll go on to win the Stanley Cup.”Bobby Hull, the Hawks’ star, said he felt his team had it wrapped up at the outset of the third period when the score was still deadlocked

“They didn’t come at us like they did at the start in the first couple of shifts of the third period,” he said. “They were more tired than we were.”

Reay failed to agree that Stan Mikita turned from goat to hero in the series with the winning goal. Up to that point, Mikita had scored only two goals and was considered one of the leading Hawk disappointments.

“You guys make me laugh,” Reay told newsmen. “Ullman scored a pair of fluke goals here, and you make him the No. 1 star. I thought Mikita was outstanding throughout the series, not just tonight.”

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