1926-27 NHL season

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Image:NationalHockeyLeague.png 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. 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 for the ninth and final time by the Ottawa Senators.

A new trophy, the Vezina Trophy, was awarded this year for the first time to the goaltender who had the best goals against average in the league.

Contents

Regular season

With the infusion of new teams, the NHL was split into the Canadian and American divisions (although interestingly 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.

During the season, the Toronto St. Patricks were bought by Conn Smythe and renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Final standings

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Canadian Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Image:Ottawasenatorsoldl.gif Ottawa Senators 44 30 10 4 64 86 69 607
Image:Canadiens 1926.gif Montreal Canadiens 44 28 14 2 58 99 67 395
Image:Montrealmaroonslogo.gif Montreal Maroons 44 20 20 4 44 71 68 716
Image:Newyorkamericanslogo30s.gif New York Americans 44 17 25 2 36 82 91 349
Image:Torontostpatslogo.gif/Image:Torontomapleleafslogo1927.PNG Toronto St. Pats/Maple Leafs 44 15 24 5 35 79 94 546
American Division GP W L T Pts GF GA PIM
Image:Newyorkrangerslogo40s.gif New York Rangers 44 25 13 6 56 95 72 385
Image:Bruins 1924.gif Boston Bruins 44 21 20 3 45 97 89 521
Image:Chicagoblackhawkslogo30s.gif Chicago Black Hawks 44 19 22 3 41 115 116 448
Image:Pittsburghpirateslogo.gif Pittsburgh Pirates 44 15 26 3 33 79 108 230
Image:DetroitCougars.gif Detroit Cougars 44 12 28 4 28 76 105 409

Leading Scorers

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 / Boston 44 18 13 31
Babe Dye Chicago Black Hawks 41 25 5 30
Ace Bailey Toronto Maple Leafs 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 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 NY Rangers / Boston 31 1959 56 6 1.72
Jake Forbes New York Americans 44 2715 91 8 2.01
John Ross Roach Toronto Maple Leafs 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

Image:Hhof stanley cup.jpg 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.

All dates in 1927

Quarterfinals

Montreal Canadiens vs. Montreal Maroons

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 29Montreal Canadiens1Montreal Maroons1
March 31Montreal Maroons0Montreal Canadiens1 (OT)

Montreal Canadiens win total-goals series 2-1

Boston Bruins vs. Chicago Black Hawks

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
March 29Boston Bruins6Chicago Black Hawks1Played in NYC
March 31Chicago Black Hawks4Boston Bruins2

Boston wins total-goals series 8 goals to 5

Semifinals

Ottawa Senators vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 2Ottawa Senators4Montreal Canadiens0
April 4Montreal Canadiens1Ottawa Senators1

Ottawa wins total-goals series 5-1

New York Rangers vs. Boston Bruins

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 2New York Rangers0Boston Bruins0
April 4Boston Bruins3New York Rangers1

Boston wins total-goals series 3-1

Stanley Cup Finals

The Stanley Cup finals were a best of three series. Oddly enough, it went four games due to two ties. At that time, if the game was tied after one-twenty overtime period, the game went in the books as a tie.

Boston Bruins vs. Ottawa Senators

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 7Ottawa Senators0Boston Bruins0(OT)
April 9Ottawa Senators3Boston Bruins1
April 11Boston Bruins1Ottawa Senators1 (OT)
April 13Boston Bruins1Ottawa Senators3

Ottawa wins best-of-three 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

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

See also

References

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National Hockey League 1917 to present
Current teams : Anaheim | Atlanta | Boston | Buffalo | Calgary | Carolina | Chicago | Colorado | Columbus | Dallas | Detroit | Edmonton | Florida | Los Angeles | Minnesota | Montreal | Nashville | New Jersey | NY Islanders | NY Rangers | Ottawa | Philadelphia | Phoenix | Pittsburgh | San Jose | St. Louis | Tampa Bay | Toronto | Vancouver | Washington
Trophies and awards: Stanley Cup | Prince of Wales | Clarence S. Campbell | Presidents' Trophy | Adams | Art Ross | Calder | Conn Smythe | Crozier | Hart | Jennings | King Clancy | Lady Byng | Masterton | Norris | Patrick | Pearson | Plus/Minus | Rocket Richard | Selke | Vezina
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