1927–28 NHL season

The O'Brien Cup, which used to go to the National Hockey Association (NHA), later the NHL league champion, would now go to the winner of the Canadian Division. The Prince of Wales Trophy, first awarded to the winner of the first game at Madison Square Garden, and later the NHL league champion, would now go to the winner of the American division.

The first indications that the Ottawa Senators were in financial trouble surfaced when they asked the league for a bigger share of road game income. Though the league entertained the Senators suggestion, the Senators did not receive this income. It was decided by the Ottawa management to sell star right wing Hooley Smith to the Montreal Maroons for an undisclosed amount of money ($22,500 it was believed). At the same time, right wing Punch Broadbent returned to Ottawa.

The Toronto Maple Leafs introduced new sweaters of blue and white, changing from the former green logo on white uniform. They are the first team in the NHL to have a set of white uniforms and a set of dark uniforms.^[1][2]

The league changed the rule for substitution, allowing "on the fly" changes, as long as the player going off is on the bench before the substitute goes on.^[3]

The league implemented new measures to increase scoring. The blue lines were introduced, dividing the rink into three zones: defending, neutral and attacking. Teams with possession in their defending zone could now pass the puck forward, and both teams could pass the puck forward in the neutral zone, although forward passing across the blue lines was still disallowed. New penalties were given for picking up the puck; and for clearing the puck out of play. Goalie leg pads were reduced in width to ten inches from twelve and goalies were disallowed from travelling more than four feet with the puck.^[4] However, the new changes did not improve scoring, as the average number of goals per game decreased to 3.8, from 4.0.^[5] A new ten-minute sudden-death overtime period was introduced to resolve games tied after 60 minutes. This was also ineffective, and the number of tie games doubled from 36 to 74.^[5]

The Detroit Cougars moved from Border Cities Arena in Windsor, Ontario to Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

The Chicago Black Hawks fired coach Pete Muldoon before the season, and coaching was split between Hugh Lehman and Barney Stanley. The Black Hawks finished last, recording only seven wins. The firing of Muldoon prompted him to publicly put "a curse" (known as the "curse of the Muldoons") on the Black Hawks, stating that the team would never win the NHL pennant. The Black Hawks would not place first in the NHL until the 1966–67 season.^[6]

The Ottawa Senators, the smallest market in the league, were affected by franchises in the U.S. and sold their star right wing Hooley Smith to the Montreal Maroons for $22,500 plus the return of right wing Punch Broadbent, followed by the sale of defenceman Edwin Gorman to Toronto.

Howie Morenz, the NHL's top drawing card, dominated the scoring race and was runaway winner of the Hart Trophy. He scored 33 goals and led the league in assists as well. Despite Ottawa's financial difficulties, Alex Connell, Ottawa goalkeeper, set an all-time record with six consecutive shutouts. His record shutout sequence reached 460 minutes and 59 seconds without being scored on.^[7]

Toronto, now the Maple Leafs, showed power early on and it looked like they would make the playoffs. However, injuries to Hap Day and Bill Carson doomed the team, and the Leafs sagged to fourth, out of the playoffs for the third straight year. It would take another 80 years until the Leafs missed the playoffs three straight times again.

Thanks to the great play of Eddie Shore and goaltender Hal Winkler, who tied with Connell for the leader in shutouts with 15, the Boston Bruins finished first for the first time in the American Division, while the Canadiens, who were running away with the Canadian Division at mid-season, slumped after an injury to Pit Lepine but managed to hold onto first place at season's end.

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF= Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold

In the Canadian Division, the Montreal Maroons beat the Ottawa Senators and then went to the limit against the Canadiens before Russell Oatman put the Maroons into the finals with a goal in overtime.

In the American Division, the New York Rangers knocked off the Pittsburgh Pirates in a rough series, and then beat Boston to go to the finals against the Montreal Maroons.

The circus knocked the Rangers out of Madison Square Garden, and all games were played in the Montreal Forum, even though Boston offered to host the Rangers. The Maroons won game one 2–0, with Nels Stewart and goaltender Clint Benedict the stars.

Drama took over in game two when Nels Stewart fired a hard shot that struck New York goaltender Lorne Chabot in the eye. He could not continue, and the Rangers needed a goaltender. However, when coach Eddie Gerard refused to let the Rangers use Alex Connell or minor league goaltender Hugh McCormick, Lester Patrick, Ranger coach, in anger, decided to don the pads himself.^[7] The Rangers then body-blasted any Maroon who got near Patrick. Bill Cook scored, putting the Rangers ahead 1–0, but Nels Stewart was not to be denied and scored, tying the game. In overtime, Frank Boucher got the winner for the Rangers and they carried Patrick, tears streaming down his eyes, off the ice. Patrick stopped 17 of 18 shots he faced.^[7]

Joe "Red Light" Miller, New York Americans goalie, was allowed to take Chabot's place in goal and he played well in a 2–0 loss in game three. However, Frank Boucher starred as the Rangers took the next two games, and the Stanley Cup. Drama almost took place in the final game when Miller was badly cut on a shot, but he was able to continue. The crowd became unruly at times and referee Mike Rodden took abuse for disallowed goals by Maroon players. Even NHL president Frank Calder was a target of some fans for not intervening. The Rangers became the second American team to win the Cup and the first NHL American team to do so. In addition, the Rangers became the first team to win the Stanley Cup at the Montreal Forum which was only repeated in 1989

The terms for awarding the O'Brien Cup and the Prince of Wales Trophy were changed to honour the top finisher in each of the NHL's divisions. Howie Morenz won the Hart Trophy, the first of three times he would be named most valuable player. Frank Boucher won the Lady Byng, the first of seven times he would win the award. George Hainsworth won the Vezina Trophy for the second consecutive year.

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

Source: NHL^[8]

Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; GAA = Goals against average

Source: hockey-reference.com^[9]

• Boston Bruins: Art Ross
• Chicago Black Hawks: Barney Stanley and Hughie Lehman
• Detroit Cougars: Jack Adams
• New York Rangers: Lester Patrick
• Pittsburgh Pirates: Odie Cleghorn

• Montreal Canadiens: Cecil Hart
• Montreal Maroons: Eddie Gerard
• New York Americans: Shorty Green
• Ottawa Senators: Dave Gill
• Toronto Maple Leafs: Conn Smythe

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1927–28 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins
• Norman Gainor, Boston Bruins
• Cy Wentworth, Chicago Black Hawks
• Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Black Hawks
• Larry Aurie, Detroit Cougars
• Marty Burke, Montreal Canadiens
• Jimmy Ward, Montreal Maroons
• Joe Lamb, Montreal Maroons
• Marty Barry, New York Americans
• Allan Shields, Ottawa Senators
• Joe Primeau, Toronto Maple Leafs

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1927–28 (listed with their last team):* Denotes last game was in the playoffs.

• Sprague Cleghorn, Boston Bruins
• Corb Denneny, Chicago Black Hawks
• Frank Foyston, Detroit Cougars
• Jack Walker, Detroit Cougars
• Billy Boucher, New York Americans
• Odie Cleghorn, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Lester Patrick, New York Rangers*

• 1927–28 NHL Transactions
• List of Stanley Cup champions
• Ice hockey at the 1928 Winter Olympics
• Prairie Hockey League
• List of pre-NHL seasons
• 1927 in sports
• 1928 in sports

• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000). Total Hockey. Total Sports. ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000). Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd. ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Duplacey, James (1996). The annotated rules of hockey. New York: Lyons & Burford, Publishers. ISBN 1-55821-466-6.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003). The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc. ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
• McFarlane, Brian (1973). The Story of the National Hockey League. New York: Pagurian Press. ISBN 0-684-13424-1.
• Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-3383-9.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com