The 1981–82 Chicago Black Hawks season was the 56th season of operation of the Chicago Black Hawks in the National Hockey League.
Offseason
During the off-season, the NHL realigned their divisions, and the Black Hawks moved from the Smythe Division to the Norris Division. Joining Chicago in the Norris Division were the Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets, making it the only six team division in the league.
At the 1981 NHL Entry Draft, the Hawks drafted Tony Tanti with their first round draft pick. Tanti had 81 goals and 150 points with the Oshawa Generals of the OHL in 1980-81.
Regular season
Chicago had a solid start to the season, opening with a 9-5-6 record in their first 20 games, only two points behind the Minnesota North Stars for first place in the Norris Division. The Black Hawks struggled over the next part of the season, as they quickly fell out of contention for first place, going 14-28-4 in their next 46 games, falling into fourth place. During the slump, head coach Keith Magnuson resigned, as Bob Pulford took over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Chicago finished the season with a 30-38-12 record, earning 72 points, which was good enough for the final playoff spot in the Norris.
Offensively, Denis Savard had a breakout season, scoring 32 goals and a club record 119 points while playing in all 80 games. Al Secord scored a team high 44 goals, and finished with 75 points, while getting a team high 303 penalty minutes. Tom Lysiak had another solid season, scoring 32 goals and 82 points. On defence, Doug Wilson had an excellent season, scoring 39 goals and 85 points, while Doug Crossman emerged with 12 goals and 40 points.
In goal, Tony Esposito had the majority of playing time, going 19-25-8 with a 4.52 GAA in 52 games. Murray Bannerman backed him up with an 11-12-4 record and a 4.17 GAA in 29 games.
Final standings
Record vs. opponents
Playoffs
Chicago Black Hawks 3, Minnesota North Stars 1
The Black Hawks opened the playoffs with a best-of-five Norris Division semi-final series against the Minnesota North Stars. The North Stars had the best record in the Norris, going 37-23-20, earning 94 points, which was 22 more than the Black Hawks. The series opened with two games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. With the game tied at 2-2 at the end of regulation time, the Hawks Greg Fox emerged as the hero in overtime, scoring 3:34 into the extra period, as Chicago won the game 3-2 to take a 1-0 series lead. Chicago goaltender Murray Bannerman made 45 saves in the victory. In the second game, the Black Hawks, led by two goals by Tom Lysiak and 33 saves from Murray Bannerman, defeated the North Stars 5-3 to take both games in Minnesota. The series shifted to Chicago Stadium for the next two games, and the North Stars rebounded with a 7-1 victory in the third game, as Dino Ciccarelli led the way with three goals for Minnesota. The Black Hawks completed the upset in the fourth game, defeating the North Stars 5-2, as goaltender Tony Esposito made 31 saves for the win.