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.
Final Standings[]
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ottawa Senators | 44 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 86 | 69 | 64 |
Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 28 | 14 | 2 | 99 | 67 | 58 |
Montreal Maroons | 44 | 20 | 20 | 4 | 71 | 68 | 44 |
New York Americans | 44 | 17 | 25 | 2 | 82 | 91 | 36 |
Toronto St. Patricks | 44 | 15 | 24 | 5 | 79 | 94 | 35 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.
GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York Rangers | 44 | 25 | 13 | 6 | 95 | 72 | 56 |
Boston Bruins | 44 | 21 | 20 | 3 | 97 | 89 | 45 |
Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 19 | 22 | 3 | 115 | 116 | 41 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | 44 | 15 | 26 | 3 | 79 | 108 | 33 |
Detroit Cougars | 44 | 12 | 28 | 4 | 76 | 105 | 28 |
Scoring Leaders[]
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bill Cook | New York Rangers | 44 | 33 | 4 | 37 |
Dick Irvin | Chicago Black Hawks | 43 | 18 | 18 | 36 |
Howie Morenz | Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 25 | 7 | 32 |
Frank Fredrickson | Detroit Cougars / Boston Bruins | 44 | 18 | 13 | 31 |
Babe Dye | Chicago Black Hawks | 41 | 25 | 5 | 30 |
Ace Bailey | Toronto St. Patricks | 42 | 15 | 13 | 28 |
Frank Boucher | New York Rangers | 44 | 13 | 15 | 28 |
Billy Burch | New York Americans | 43 | 19 | 8 | 27 |
Harry Oliver | Boston Bruins | 42 | 18 | 6 | 24 |
Duke Keats | Boston / Detroit Cougars | 42 | 16 | 8 | 24 |
Leading Goaltenders[]
Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average
Player | Team | GP | MINS | GA | SO | AVG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Clint Benedict | Montreal Maroons | 43 | 2748 | 65 | 13 | 1.42 |
Lorne Chabot | New York Rangers | 36 | 2307 | 56 | 10 | 1.46 |
George Hainsworth | Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 2732 | 67 | 14 | 1.47 |
Alex Connell | Ottawa Senators | 44 | 2782 | 69 | 13 | 1.49 |
Hal Winkler | New York Rangers / Boston Bruins | 31 | 1959 | 56 | 6 | 1.72 |
Jake Forbes | New York Americans | 44 | 2715 | 91 | 8 | 2.01 |
John Ross Roach | Toronto St. Patricks | 44 | 2764 | 94 | 4 | 2.04 |
Hap Holmes | Detroit Cougars | 41 | 2685 | 100 | 6 | 2.23 |
Roy Worters | Pittsburgh Pirates | 44 | 2711 | 108 | 4 | 2.39 |
Hugh Lehman | Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 2797 | 116 | 5 | 2.49 |
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[]
Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
C1 | Ottawa Senators | 5G | |||||||||||
Canadian Division | |||||||||||||
C2 | Montreal Canadiens | 1G | |||||||||||
C2 | Montreal Canadiens | 2G | |||||||||||
C3 | Montreal Maroons | 1G | |||||||||||
C1 | Ottawa Senators | 2 | |||||||||||
A2 | Boston Bruins | 0 | |||||||||||
A1 | New York Rangers | 1G | |||||||||||
American Division | |||||||||||||
A2 | Boston Bruins | 3G | |||||||||||
A2 | Boston Bruins | 10G | |||||||||||
A3 | Chicago Blackhawks | 5G |
All dates in 1927
Quarter-finals[]
Montreal Canadiens vs. Montreal Maroons
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 29 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | Montreal Maroons | 1 | |
March 31 | Montreal Maroons | 0 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | (OT) |
Montreal Canadiens win total-goals series 2-1
Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Black Hawks
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March 29 | Boston Bruins | 6 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 | Played in New York |
March 31 | Chicago Black Hawks | 4 | Boston Bruins | 4 |
Boston wins total-goals series 10 goals to 5
Semi-finals[]
Ottawa Senators vs. Montreal Canadiens
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2 | Ottawa Senators | 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 0 | |
April 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 1 | Ottawa Senators | 1 |
Ottawa wins total-goals series 5-1
New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 2 | New York Rangers | 0 | Boston Bruins | 0 | |
April 4 | Boston Bruins | 3 | New York Rangers | 1 |
Boston wins total-goals series 3-1
Finals[]
- Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators
Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 7 | Ottawa Senators | 0 | Boston Bruins | 0 | (OT) |
April 9 | Ottawa Senators | 3 | Boston Bruins | 1 | |
April 11 | Boston Bruins | 1 | Ottawa Senators | 1 | (OT) |
April 13 | Boston Bruins | 1 | Ottawa Senators | 3 |
Ottawa wins best-of-five series 2-0-2
Playoff Scoring Leaders[]
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harry Oliver | Boston Bruins | 8 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
Percy Galbraith | Boston Bruins | 8 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
NHL Awards[]
1926-27 NHL Awards | |
---|---|
Prince of Wales Trophy: | Ottawa Senators |
Hart Memorial Trophy: | Herb Gardiner, Montreal Canadiens |
Lady Byng Trophy: | Billy Burch, New York Americans |
Vezina Trophy: | George Hainsworth, Montreal Canadiens |
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[]
- Montreal Canadiens: 182,741
- Montreal Maroons: 175,048
- New York Rangers: 156,661
- Boston Bruins: 133,578
- New York Americans: 123,185
- Toronto Maple Leafs: 103,000
See Also[]
References[]
NHL Seasons |
---|
1922-23 | 1923-24 | 1924-25 | 1925-26 | 1926-27 | 1927-28 | 1928-29 | 1929-30 | 1930-31 |
National Hockey League | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Structure | Playoffs (Streaks • Droughts • All-time playoff series) • Conference Finals • Finals |
---|---|
Annual events | Seasons • Stanley Cup (Champions • Winning players • Traditions and anecdotes) • Presidents' Trophy • All-Star Game • Draft • Awards • All-Star Teams |
Players | List of players • Association • Retired jersey numbers • Captains |
History | Lore • Organizational changes :: • Defunct teams • NHA • Original Six • 1967 Expansion • WHA Merger • Lockouts |
Others | Outdoor games (Winter Classic • Heritage Classic • Stadium Series) • Potential expansion • Hall of Fame (Members) • Rivalries • Arenas • Rules • Fighting • Violence : International games • Kraft Hockeyville • Collective bargaining agreement • Television and radio coverage |
Category • 2022–23 Season • 2023–24 Season • 2024–25 Season |
1926–27 NHL season by team | |
---|---|
Canadian Division | Mtl Canadiens • Mtl Maroons • NY Americans • Ottawa • Toronto |
American Division | Boston • Chicago • Detroit • NY Rangers • Pittsburgh |
See also | Stanley Cup Finals |