1926–27 Boston Bruins season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=1926–27
Team=Boston Bruins
Record=21-20-3 (45 points)
Division=American
DivisionRank=Second
GoalsFor=97
GoalsAgainst=89
GeneralManager=Art Ross
Coach=Art Ross
Captain= Lionel Hitchman
Arena=Boston Arena
GoalsLeader=Harry Oliver (18)
AssistsLeader=Percy Galbraith (8)
PointsLeader=Harry Oliver (24)
PIMLeader=Eddie Shore (130)
WinsLeader=Hal Winkler (12)
GAALeader=Hal Winkler (1.66)

The 1926–27 Boston Bruins’ season was the team's third in the NHL. The Bruins finished second in the American Division, making the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. The team competed in the first Stanley Cup finals to be held exclusively between NHL teams, losing to the Ottawa Senators.

Regular Season

"See also: 1926-27 NHL season"

The collapse of the Western Hockey League not only placed the Stanley Cup in the exclusive control of the NHL, but also resulted in a flood of skilled players bolstering NHL rosters, allowing not only for three new expansion franchises (the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks and the Detroit Cougars) but providing the Bruins a complete overhaul of their roster. Goaltender Hal Winkler came from the Calgary Tigers and replaced holdover Doc Stewart in net, while Calgary scoring star Harry Oliver would lead the Bruins in scoring. From the Edmonton Eskimos came two players: star scorer Duke Keats and the real prize of the offseason, defenseman Eddie Shore, who in a Bruins' uniform would be one of the great players in hockey history. [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=709] Another find would be Percy Galbraith, who joined the Bruins after a long career in the senior leagues. [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=12]

With ten teams, the NHL realigned into two divisions, placing the Bruins in the new American Division with the Black Hawks, the Cougars, the Rangers and the Pittsburgh Pirates. [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=9]

Shore made an impact early, both as a rushing defenseman and as an enforcer, provoking the ire of the Montreal Maroons in a December 23rd game in which he and Sprague Cleghorn both slashed repeatedly at Maroons' star Nels Stewart, much to the disgust of the Maroons' team owner, who after the game blasted the referee in the newspapers as "incompetent." [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=13] At the halfway point of the season, the Bruins were in third place behind Chicago.

Despite performances such as Oliver's four goal night against the Black Hawks on January 11, the club executed a major overhaul in mid January, first dealing Carson Cooper to the Canadiens for Billy Boucher and purchasing Hal Winkler from the Rangers, and then trading Duke Keats, who seemed to have faded, for Frank Fredrickson at month's end. [harvnb|Vautour|(1997)|p=42] Fredrickson and Winkler paid immediate dividends, with the Icelander scoring four goals against the Rangers in his first game in a Boston uniform and Winkler supplanting Doc Stewart as the club's starting goaltender. [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=14] Nonetheless, the Bruins still relied heavily on rough play, and Cleghorn and Couto were specifically cited by Toronto Maple Leafs governor Charlie Querrie when he resigned in February as being "only good for chopping and slashing." [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=15]

Inconsistent play marred the end of the regular season, with the Bruins losing four out of their last seven matches, but they did well enough to secure their first playoff berth. With a combined 31 points between Detroit and Boston, Fredrickson finished fourth in the NHL in scoring with Oliver placing ninth, and Winkler had the fifth lowest goals against average of the league's goaltenders. Eddie Shore finished only three behind Nels Stewart as the league's most penalized player. [harvnb|Coleman|(1969)|p=19]

Numerous bonuses were given out at season's end to the team's players: $1,600 to Galbraith; $1,400 to Hitchman; $1,000 each to Shore, Oliver, Herberts and Cleghorn; $850 to Winkler; $750 to Fredrickson; $700 to Coutu; $300 each to Stuart and Boucher; and $250 each to Meeking and the team's trainer. [harvnb|Vautour|(1997)|p=42]

"Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against"

Playoffs

The Bruins beat the Black Hawks on March 29th (in a game played in New York) 6-1, and tied 4-4 in Boston on the 31st, to win the two-game total-goal series ten goals to five. [harvnb|Coleman|(1964)|p=24]

Their second series against the Rangers was also a two game total-goal series, where they played to a scoreless tie in Boston on April 2 and won 3-1 on the 4th in New York to win three goals to one. [harvnb|Coleman|(1964)|p=25]

The Stanley Cup finals, a best-of-five series, began in Boston on April 7th, where the Bruins and Senators skated to a scoreless tie. Galbraith scored for Boston in the overtime, but the goal was ruled offside. The second game in Boston on the 9th was won by Ottawa 3-1, as Boston allowed two shorthanded goals in a game marred by five power plays on Shore penalties alone. [harvnb|Coleman|(1964)|p=26]

On April 11, the series moved to Ottawa, and the teams played to another tie, 1-1. The final game was on April 13, won 3-1 by Ottawa, in a match marked by numerous fights in which several players received match penalties, fines and suspensions, and league President Frank Calder was summoned to the ice to sort it all out. The most egregious act was Bruin Billy Coutu attacking the referee, for which he was the first NHL player to be expelled for life from the league. [harvnb|Coleman|(1964)|p=27]

The Stanley Cup win was the ninth and final one for the Ottawa Senators.

Playoff stats

coring leaders

Goaltending

Roster

* #1 Sprague Cleghorn
* #2 Eddie Shore
* #3 Lionel Hitchman
* #4 Jimmy Herberts
* #5 Frank Fredrickson
* #6 Percy Galbraith
* #7 Carson Cooper
* #9 Harry Oliver
* #11 Doc Stewart
* #11 Hal Winkler
* #12 Red Stuart
* Billy Boucher
* Archie Briden
* Billy Coutu
* Duke Keats
* Harry Meeking

Transactions

* Acquired Eddie Shore, Harry Oliver, Hal Winkler, Duke Keats and Archie Briden as free agents from the Western Hockey League. [harvnb|Coleman|(1964)|p=488]
* Traded Carson Cooper to the Montreal Canadiens for Billy Boucher, January 17, 1927. [cite web |url=http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=12323 |title=Hockey Hall of Fame website |accessdate=2008-09-18 |work=Carson Cooper |publisher= |date= ]
* Purchased Hal Winkler from the New York Rangers for $5,000, January 17, 1927. [cite web |url= http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=18734|title=Hockey Hall of Fame website |accessdate=2008-09-18 |work=Hal Winkler |publisher= |date= ]
* Traded Duke Keats and Archie Briden to the Detroit Cougars for Frank Frederickson and Harry Meeking, January 27, 1927. [cite web |url= http://www.legendsofhockey.net:8080/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p195807&type=Player&page=statsawards&list=ByName#photo|title=Hockey Hall of Fame website |accessdate=2008-09-18 |work=Frank Fredrickson |publisher= |date= ]

References

*Citation|last=Coleman|first=Charles L.|year=1969|title=Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol II.|publisher=Kendall-Hunt Publishing|ID=ISBN 0480329415
*Citation|last=Vautour|first=Kevin|year=1997|title=The Bruins Book|publisher=ECW Press|ID=ISBN 1550223348
*Citation|last=Klein, Jeff Z.|first=Reif, Karl-Eric|year=1997|title=The Klein & Reif Hockey Compendium|publisher=McClelland & Stewart|ID=ISBN 0-7710-4529-8

Footnotes