1926-27 NHL season

The 1926-27 NHL season was the tenth season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The success of the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Pirates led the NHL to further expand to the United States. On May 4, 1926, the Western Hockey League, unable to match the higher salaries being offered by the NHL, folded, with many of its assets sold to the NHL. In particular, the NHL Board of Governors had purchased the contracts of every player in the WHL for $258,000. The entire rosters of two WHL teams, the Portland Rosebuds and Victoria Cougars, were bought, respectively, by the expansion Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars. The league also added the New York Rangers to the fold. This left the NHL in sole possession of hockey's greatest players, as well as sole control of hockey's greatest trophy, the Stanley Cup, which was won by the Ottawa Senators.

A new trophy in memory of Georges Vezina, the Vezina Trophy, was donated this year by Leo Dandurand, Louis Letourneau and Joseph Cattarinich for the first time to the goaltender who had the best goals against average in the league.

League Business
At the September 25, 1926 NHL meeting, Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars were added to the league. Chicago would buy out the players of the WHL's Portland Rosebuds, and Detroit bought the players of the Victoria Cougars. Frederic McLaughlin was the new governor for Chicago, and Charles A. Hughes for Detroit.

Toronto bought the players of the Saskatoon franchise; and Montreal claimed George Hainsworth. The rest of the WHL players would be distributed by a committee of Frank Calder, Leo Dandurand and James Strachan.

A special meeting was held on October 26 at which the NHL was split into the Canadian and American divisions (although the New York Americans were placed in the Canadian Division), along with an altered playoff format: the top team from each division would meet the winner of a total-goals series between the second and third place teams from their divisions. The winners of those total-goals series would meet in a best-of-five Stanley Cup Finals.

Rules Changes
The blue lines moved to sixty feet from the goal line from twenty feet from the centre red line to increase the size of the neutral zone.

Regular Season
The Montreal Canadiens, last place finishers in 1925-26, solved their goaltending woes by signing George Hainsworth, whom Georges Vezina had designated to be his successor. They further strengthened their team by signing Herb Gardiner for defence. The Canadiens finished second in the Canadian Division to powerful Ottawa, who was the league's best team.

Dave Gill, secretary-treasurer (general manager), decided to take over as coach of the Ottawa Senators. He would be assisted by Frank Shaughnessy, a former coach of the old NHA Senators, to assist him with the strategy used in games. Ottawa finished first atop the Canadian Division as a result.

During the season, the Toronto St. Patricks were bought by Conn Smythe and renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, the team was under contract to use the name St. Patricks for the 1926-27 season, and the league ruled that the team had to fulfill its contract. They became the Maple Leafs the following season.

Lester Patrick played one game for the New York Rangers during the season, on March 20, 1927 as the Rangers beat the New York Americans 2-1. Patrick was 43 years old and took a penalty during the game.

Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Leading Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average

Stanley Cup Playoffs
With the collapse of the Western Hockey League, the Stanley Cup became the new NHL champion trophy. The NHL teams now battled out amongst themselves for the coveted Cup. The new division alignment and the new playoff format also meant that an American team was guaranteed to be the first American NHL team to make the Cup Finals.

Playoff Bracket
All dates in 1927

Quarter-finals
Montreal Canadiens vs. Montreal Maroons Montreal Canadiens win total-goals series 2-1

Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Black Hawks Boston wins total-goals series 10 goals to 5

Semi-finals
Ottawa Senators vs. Montreal Canadiens Ottawa wins total-goals series 5-1

New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins Boston wins total-goals series 3-1

Finals
Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators Ottawa wins best-of-five series 2-0-2

Playoff Scoring Leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Debuts
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1926-27 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):
 * Percy Galbraith, Boston Bruins
 * Eddie Shore, Boston Bruins
 * Harry Oliver, Boston Bruins
 * Duke Keats, Boston Bruins
 * George Hay, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Mickey MacKay, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Dick Irvin, Chicago Black Hawks
 * Frank Foyston, Detroit Cougars
 * Jack Walker, Detroit Cougars
 * Frank Fredrickson, Detroit Cougars
 * George Hainsworth, Montreal Canadiens
 * Art Gagne, Montreal Canadiens
 * Herb Gardiner, Montreal Canadiens
 * Hap Emms, Montreal Maroons
 * Red Dutton, Montreal Maroons
 * Norman Himes, New York Americans
 * Paul Thompson, New York Rangers
 * Bill Cook, New York Rangers
 * Bun Cook, New York Rangers
 * Murray Murdoch, New York Rangers
 * Lorne Chabot, New York Rangers
 * Clarence Abel, New York Rangers
 * Ching Johnson, New York Rangers
 * Ace Bailey, Toronto St. Patricks
 * Butch Keeling, Toronto St. Patricks
 * Carl Voss, Toronto St. Patricks

Last Games
The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1926-27 (listed with their last team):
 * Shorty Green, New York Americans
 * Newsy Lalonde, New York Americans
 * Jack Adams, Ottawa Senators
 * Bert Corbeau, Toronto St. Patricks

Attendance

 * 1) Montreal Canadiens: 182,741
 * 2) Montreal Maroons: 175,048
 * 3) New York Rangers: 156,661
 * 4) Boston Bruins: 133,578
 * 5) New York Americans: 123,185
 * 6) Toronto Maple Leafs: 103,000