The 1926-27 NHL season was the tenth National Hockey League season.
Regular Season
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. Two WHL teams, the Portland Rosebuds and the Victoria Cougars, were moved intact and became, respectively, the Chicago Blackhawks and the 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.
With the infusion of new teams, the NHL was split into the Canadian and American divisions (although interestingly the New York Americans was 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.
Standings
Canadian Division
American Division
Leading Scorers
Leading Goaltenders
Stanley Cup Playoffs
The new division alignment and the new playoff format 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
Montreal Canadiens win total-goals series 2-1
Boston vs Chicago
- March 29 - Boston 6 Chicago 1 (played in New York)
- March 31 - Chicago 4 Boston 2
Boston wins total-goals series 10-5
Semifinals
Ottawa vs Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa wins total-goals series 5-1
New York Rangers vs Boston
Boston wins total-goals series 3-1
Stanley Cup Finals
Ottawa vs Boston
Ottawa wins best-of-five series 2-0-2
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