1928–29 New York Americans season



The 1928–29 New York Americans season was the team's 4th season. After finishing out of the playoffs in their first three seasons, the Americans finished 2nd in the Canadian Division to make the playoffs for the first time. They lost in the Quarter-finals to the New York Rangers in a total goal series by 1-0 with the winning goal being scored in double overtime.

Off-season
GM Tommy Gorman acquired several players in the off-season including Johnny Sheppard, Punch Broadbent and Babe Dye but most significantly, goalie Roy Worters from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Worters refused to report to the Pirates and was suspended by the team. He was traded for Joe Miller, however, NHL President Frank Calder initially wouldn't lift Worters team suspension for the start of the regular season.

Regular Season
With Roy Worters suspended, the Americans obtained the loan of Flat Walsh for the first three games of the season. Walsh did very well and went undefeated. Jake Forbes manned the nets for the fourth game against the Montreal Canadiens and won 4-3. Walsh played the next game and also won, 1-0 against the Ottawa Senators. The last substitute netminder was forward Normie Himes who had played 19 minutes of a game the season before without letting in a goal. Himes couldn't repeat his feat and lost 3-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 1, 1928.

Worters finally played on December 2, 1928 but lost to the Detroit Cougars 2-1. He then lost his next game, 4-1 to the Montreal Maroons and had Gorman doubting the goaltending change. But Gorman stuck with Worters and he produced dividends, reeling off five consecutive wins with three shutouts. This was just the start of a phenomenal season for Worters who led the Americans to second in their Division, despite the team having scored the fewest goals. Worters finished with a 1.15 goal against average, 13 shutouts and was the first goalie to win the Hart Memorial Trophy.

Regular Season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Playoffs

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Awards and Records

 * Hart Memorial Trophy: Roy Worters

Transactions

 * Purchase Johnny Sheppard from the Detroit Cougars on October 14, 1928.
 * Purchase Punch Broadbent from the Ottawa Senators on October 15, 1928.
 * Trade Charley McVeigh to the Chicago Black Hawks for Alex McKinnon on October 15, 1928.
 * Purchase Babe Dye from Chicago on October 17, 1928.
 * Trade Joe Miller to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Roy Worters on November 1, 1928.
 * Trade Jesse Spring and loan of Edmond Bouchard to Pittsburgh for loan of Wilfred White on February 15, 1929.

Trivia

 * No Americans recorded a hat trick this season.

Post-season Exhibition
The Americans went to Portland and Seattle to play two games each against the teams from the Pacific Coast League. They then moved to Vancouver for a series against the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Lions.


 * April 1 New York 2 Portland 1
 * April 4 New York 4 Portland 3
 * April 5 New York 6 Seattle 4
 * April 8 Seattle 4 New York 1

Vancouver series


 * April 6 Vancouver 2 Montreal 0
 * April 8 Montreal 4 Vancouver 1
 * April 10 Vancouver 3 Montreal 2
 * April 12 New York 1 Vancouver 0
 * April 15 New York 5 Montreal 3