1927–28 NHL season
The 1927–28 NHL season was the eleventh season of the National Hockey League. Ten teams played 44 games each. The New York Rangers won the Stanley Cup beating the Montreal Maroons becoming the first United States based team since the start of the NHL to win it and first since the Seattle Metropolitans won in 1917. This season saw the reintroduction of the O'Brien Trophy, which used to go to the NHL league champion. It was originally retired in favour of the Prince of Wales Trophy. The reintroduced O'Brien Trophy went to the winner of the Canadian Division while the Prince of Wales Trophy went to the winner of the American division.
Regular season
Final standings
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
| Canadian Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 59 | 116 | 48 | 496 |
| Montreal Maroons | 44 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 54 | 96 | 77 | 549 |
| Ottawa Senators | 44 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 50 | 78 | 57 | 483 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 44 | 89 | 88 | 436 |
| New York Americans | 44 | 11 | 27 | 6 | 28 | 63 | 128 | 563 |
| American Division | GP | W | L | T | Pts | GF | GA | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Bruins | 44 | 20 | 13 | 11 | 51 | 77 | 70 | 558 |
| New York Rangers | 44 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 47 | 94 | 79 | 462 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 44 | 19 | 17 | 8 | 46 | 67 | 76 | 395 |
| Detroit Cougars | 44 | 19 | 19 | 6 | 44 | 88 | 79 | 395 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 7 | 34 | 3 | 17 | 68 | 134 | 375 |
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howie Morenz | Montreal Canadiens | 43 | 33 | 18 | 51 |
| Aurel Joliat | Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 28 | 11 | 39 |
| Frank Boucher | New York Rangers | 44 | 23 | 12 | 35 |
| George Hay | Detroit Cougars | 42 | 22 | 13 | 35 |
| Nels Stewart | Montreal Maroons | 41 | 27 | 7 | 34 |
| Art Gagne | Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 20 | 10 | 30 |
| Bun Cook | New York Rangers | 44 | 14 | 14 | 28 |
| Bill Carson | Toronto Maple Leafs | 32 | 20 | 6 | 26 |
| Frank Finnigan | Ottawa Senators | 38 | 20 | 5 | 25 |
| Bill Cook | New York Rangers | 43 | 18 | 6 | 24 |
| Duke Keats | Detroit Cougars/Chicago Black Hawks | 38 | 14 | 10 | 24 |
Stanley Cup playoffs
Playoff bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | |||||||||||
| C1 | Montreal Canadiens | 2G | |||||||||||
| Canadian Division | |||||||||||||
| C2 | Montreal Maroons | 3G | |||||||||||
| C2 | Montreal Maroons | 3G | |||||||||||
| C3 | Ottawa Senators | 1G | |||||||||||
| C2 | Montreal Maroons | 2 | |||||||||||
| A2 | New York Rangers | 3 | |||||||||||
| A1 | Boston Bruins | 2G | |||||||||||
| American Division | |||||||||||||
| A2 | New York Rangers | 5G | |||||||||||
| A2 | New York Rangers | 6G | |||||||||||
| A3 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 4G | |||||||||||
Finals
New York Rangers vs. Montreal Maroons
| Date | Away | Score | Home | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 5 | New York Rangers | 0 | Montreal Maroons | 2 | |
| April 7 | New York Rangers | 2 | Montreal Maroons | 1 | (OT) |
| April 10 | New York Rangers | 0 | Montreal Maroons | 2 | |
| April 12 | New York Rangers | 1 | Montreal Maroons | 0 | |
| April 14 | New York Rangers | 2 | Montreal Maroons | 1 |
New York wins best-of-five series 3–2
NHL awards
First games
The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1927–28 (listed with their first team, stars(*) mark start 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
Last games
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):
- 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