1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season

The 1990–91 Chicago Blackhawks season was the team's 65th season. After making the Conference Finals two years in a row, the Blackhawks were hosts for one of the most emotional NHL All-Star Game games in history, and finished with 106 points winning the NHL Presidents' Trophy for best record in the league. The Hawks received terrific performances from Steve Larmer, Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios, Dirk Graham and rookie Ed Belfour. Hockey it seemed was back in Chicago, and dreams of the first Stanley Cup since Hull and Mikita were rampant. However the playoffs matched the Hawks with their old rivals, the Minnesota North Stars, who crushed their dreams with a defeat in the first round of the 1991 Stanley Cup Playoffs - four games to two. 90-91 represented the peak of the Blackhawks between the Hull/Mikita years and the Toews/Kane years, and is probably the best Blackhawks team never to win the Stanley Cup.

Coach Mike Keenan became General Manager and Coach, and traded fan-favorite Denis Savard to the Montreal Canadiens for Chicago native Chris Chelios in the summer of 1990. Several of the older Blackhawks (Al Secord, Bob Murray and Duane Sutter) retired.

The Blackhawks would play at a high level all season as they won the Norris Division and their first President's Trophy for having the best record in the NHL with a record of 49-23-8 - good for 106 points. The Hawks edged St. Louis for both of these regular season titles as the Blues finished second with 105 points on the last day of the season with a win over the Red Wings. In addition to winning the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best team during the regular season, the Blackhawks also were the NHL's best defence, having allowed only 211 goals over 80 games. Despite being the most penalized team during the regular season, with 425 short-handed situations, the Blackhawks had a penalty-killing percentage of 84.00%, good enough for 2nd place in the league. The Blackhawks also led the NHL in short-handed goals scored, with 20.

On October 25, 1990, Steve Larmer scored just 8 seconds into the overtime period to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 home win over the Washington Capitals. It would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored during the 1990-91 NHL regular season.