1925-26
The National Hockey League adds to its foothold in the United States with the addition of the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Americans. The league also lost a team as the Hamilton Tigers franchise folded with all of its players being purchased by the Americans.
Pittsburgh's addition was contentious as the Ottawa Senators objected to increasing the league to seven teams but were outvoted. As for the destination, Pittsburgh was selected in no small part because of rumours former Toronto NHA owner Eddie Livingstone had again been threatening to start a new league and mentioned Pittsburgh as a likely location for a team. The NHL stopped Livingstone's plans for Pittsburgh by granting a franchise to be known as the Pirates, just like the city's baseball team. Veteran Odie Cleghorn, who had spent the past six years with Toronto after a decade skating for the Montreal Canadiens, left the St. Patrick's to be player-coach of the Pirates.
The WCHL had two changes prior to the start of the season. First the league changed its name from the Western Canada Hockey League to simply the Western Hockey League and second the Regina club was moved to Portland bringing back the name Portland Rosebuds. Whatever you wish to call it, the Western League was struggling to survive and could not match the player contracts offered by NHL teams, which set a cap at $35,000 per team. It led to several players demanding to be shipped east with the most notable one being Victoria defenseman and two-time WCHL MVP Eddie Shore having his contract sold to the Boston Bruins after Shore demanded $7,000 to return to Victoria. Joining Shore on the trip from Victoria to Boston was 26-year-old winger Harry Oliver who notched 29 points in 28 games a year ago. Other notable moves included Saskatoon selling goaltender Roy Worters to the New York Americans and forward Billy Burch to the Toronto St. Patrick's.
The NHL of 1925-26 had all seven teams in a single division but it was clear very quickly they were really separated into two groups with Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto at the top and the other four clubs well below. The Canadiens would be a nearly unstoppable unit with Nels Stewart and Bill Cook finishing 1-2 in league scoring and Alex Connell surrendered a league low 1.51 goals against per game. Stewart ended up with 61 points on the campaign, smashing Newsy Lalonde's mark of 56 set in the league's inaugural season and had stood as the standard. The schedule expanded to 36 games which clearly benefited Stewart and the Habs, who went 30-6-0 for an NHL record 60 points.
Toronto and Ottawa were very evenly matched and battled it out all season for second place. Back-to-back wins over the Montreal Maroons for the St. Patrick's on the final weekend of the season while the Senators were losing to Pittsburgh and tying the New York Americans proved to be the difference as Toronto nosed out its provincial rival by two points for second place. Both would qualify for the playoffs as the NHL continued its practice of giving the first-place team a bye to the finals while second and third squared off in a two-game total goal series with the winner moving on to the league final.
Ottawa's Harry Oliver became just the second player in NHL history to score 30 goals in a season, finishing two shy of Aurel Joliat's 1921-22 record of 32. Only one of the top fifteen point producers this season came from a team other than the big three. That would be Reg Noble of the Montreal Maroons, who finished 11th with 34 points. The Maroons, Boston and the New York Americans could not compete with the top three clubs but amongst themselves were very competitive and each seemed to be headed in the right direction. The same could not be said for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the former Hamilton franchise was just as bad in its new hometown, finishing last with just 6 victories in 36 games.
Despite the fact that Toronto and Ottawa were so close in the standings during the regular season, their playoff series was a rout after Toronto, keyed by two goals and two assists from Baldy Cotton, obliterated Ottawa 8-0 in the opener of the two-game total goal series. The second game, held in Ottawa, was a 2-2 tie so Toronto easily advanced to the finals.
Game One of the finals saw the host Montreal Canadiens hold off Toronto 3-2 with Johnny Shepard factoring in on all three Habs goals. The Canadiens badly outshot the St. Patrick's but Toronto goaltender Joe Miller had a very strong game to keep Toronto's title hopes alive. In the second game, the hosts from Toronto led 2-1 after twenty minutes with goals by Cully Wilson and Duke Keats coming in response to Howie Morenz' game opening tally.
That made the total goal series tied at four and Toronto blew it wide open in the second period as the St. Patrick's scored three times including a paid from Bill Boyd, both set up by Baldy Cotton. That put Toronto ahead 7-4 in the series with just twenty minutes separating the St. Patrick's from their first Stanley Cup appearance.
Montreal was not going to go quietly as Howie Morenz scored his second of the game at the 4:30 mark to cut the Toronto lead in the series to 7-5. Morenz got another goal, collecting his hat trick with 47 seconds left and Montreal made a desperate effort to tie the game but could not put another puck past Miller in the Toronto net.
For the third year in a row the Calgary Tigers emerged as the top team from the Western Hockey League, having no trouble at all in thumping second place Vancouver 16-4 in the final series. The Maroons had finished second following a tight race that had five teams in the mix for the semi-final berths right until the final couple weeks of the season. Vancouver's Frank Nighbor and Dutch Gainor of Calgary tied for the scoring lead while Calgary's Dolly Dolson had the lowest goals against average although the top goaltender award went to John Ross Roach of third place Portland.
STANLEY CUP
Toronto was making its first ever appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals while the Calgary Tigers were back for a third attempt after losing to the Montreal Canadiens two years ago and the Ottawa Senators last year. The first two games in the best-of-five series were contested in Toronto with the hosts prevailing in each of them. The opener was a 6-2 Toronto victory before a much tighter 3-2 win the next night. In game two, Toronto scored three times in the opening six minutes before Calgary settled down.
The series shifted west with the St. Patrick's needing just one more victory. Toronto again struck early in game three as Danny Cox and Joe Primeau staked the visitors to a quick 2-0 lead, but Bill Carson got one back for the Tigers before the period came to a close. The two clubs were tied at four after forty minutes and it would be Calgary that broke the tie with the only goal of the third period, courtesy of Alf Skinner. The Tigers could not build on that as two nights later Toronto, led by a three-point night from Duke Keats, scored four times in the third period to rally for a 6-4 victory and the St. Patrick's first Stanley Cup.
1926-27
The Western Hockey League came to an end as the league folded. It was never really stable with the lack of a team in Winnipeg, the largest city in Western Canada at the time, being blamed as one possible cause. In truth, the biggest issue was rising costs as the league simply could not afford to hang on to top players as salaries in the NHL began to rise. With its demise that would make the National Hockey League the only major professional loop and the Stanley Cup would from now on exclusively go to the winner of the NHL playoffs.
The NHL saw drastic change as it added three more American teams with the Detroit Cougars, New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks joining and raising the total to ten teams. The Detroit franchise bought the rights to players from the former Victoria WHL team, which inspired them selecting Cougars as their name. The Black Hawks had a similar arrangement to purchase players from Portland. The New York Rangers did not have a deal with a western club but did sign Vancouver defenseman Ching Johnson and former Calgary forward Bill Carson, who was WHL MVP. The Rangers biggest signing was a deal to purchase Frank Boucher, the Hart Trophy winner each of the past two years, from the perennially cash strapped Ottawa Senators.
The Montreal Canadiens unveiled a new arena as the Montreal Forum, which would be shared with the Maroons, was officially opened. Detroit was waiting on a new rink as well. Called Olympia Stadium, it would not be ready for the season, so the Cougars played their initial season out of the Border City Arena in Windsor. Midway through the season the Toronto St. Patrick's were purchased by a syndicate headed by Conn Smythe. The cost for the team was $160,000 and a year later Smythe would change their name to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
With the additional teams the NHL went to a two-division format for the first time. It also added a third playoff round as the opening round would see the second and third place teams play in each division with the winner meeting the first-place club for the same division. Each of those were a two-game total goal series with the finals being a best-of-three.
On the ice the big three of the Canadiens, Senators and St. Patrick's once more dominated the league. The St. Patrick's led by Ace Bailey and Duke Keats up front, a strong defense anchored by King Clancy and steady goaltending from Joe Miller, who wrestled the starting job away from Clint Benedict, gave Toronto the best record in the league at 36-6-2. Miller became the first recipient of the Murray Trophy. In real-life the Vezina Trophy made it's debut but since Georges Vezina did not suffer a tragic end in this sim, I have decided to name the goaltender trophy after Tommy Murray, the PCHL goalie who did of the Spanish Flu in this sim.
Toronto's 74 points were 11 more than the Montreal Canadiens, who finished second in the Canadian Division, could manage. With the schedule now expanded to 44 games, Habs star Howie Morenz set a new NHL points record with 71 while teammates Aurel Joliat and Bill Cook also finished among the league scoring leaders and Alex Connell was his usual steady self in the Habs net. Ottawa was third, 4 points behind Montreal as Senators forward Babe Dye led the league with 31 goals, one shy of Aurel Joliat's five-year old record. The Montreal Maroons were a distance fourth with the New York Americans bringing up the rear although both clubs would have qualified for the playoffs had they been in the American Division.
Boston led the way in the American Division, earning 48 points on a 23-19-2 record. Tiny Thompson gave the Bruins solid netminding and with the likes of Eddie Shore and young Dit Clapper in front of him, Boston's strength was its defense. The strength of the second place New York Rangers was its offense led by Frank Boucher and former WHL player of the year Bill Carson. The final playoff berth in the American Division went to the Chicago Blackhawks, who held off the Detroit Cougars for third place. The Pittsburgh Pirates once again finished with the worst record in the league.
PLAYOFFS
Both opening round playoff series were very tight as the second and third place clubs from each division met. On the Canadian side Montreal and Ottawa skated to a 2-2 tie in the opener of their total goal series. The Senators blew a glorious chance on the road as they led 2-0 after forty minutes but the Habs pulled even on goals by Albert Leduc and Howie Morenz. The rematch in Ottawa went down to the wire but the Canadiens pulled out a 3-2 victory to take the series when Nels Stewart set up Earl Campbell with the game winner in the final minute of regulation.
Meanwhile the New York Rangers and Chicago Black Hawks had skated to a 0-0 tie at Madison Square Garden in their series opener. New York outshot Chicago 47-13 but could solve the Black Hawks John Ross Roach. Roach was also the difference two nights later at the Chicago Coliseum as he made 44 saves in a 2-1 Black Hawks victory. Chicago opened the scoring in the first period on a Moose Goheen goal and went up 2-0 when Pete Bellefeuille found the back of the net midway through the third. It took nearly two full games and 90 shots before New York scored as Bill Carson brought the Rangers to within a goal with just 32 seconds left in the game. New York could not get the equalizer, and the third place Hawks had pulled off an upset.
Boston had a little more success against Roach as the first place Bruins won the opener 3-2 with Dit Clapper assisting on all three Bruins goals while Louis Hudson scored both of the Chicago markers. In the second game the visiting Bruins outshot Chicago 51-23 and the game ended in a 1-1 draw, give Boston the series by a single goal.
Toronto seemed to be in complete control on the Canadian side of the semi-finals as the St. Patrick's blanked Montreal 4-0 on home ice in the opener. Joe Miller made 40 saves and Duke Keats scored twice to pace the Toronto victory. Game Two was a complete reversal as the Habs dominated and won the series by a single goal thanks to a 5-0 victory. Alec Connell earned the shutout while Bill Cook scored twice for the winners.
The finals would be Boston against Montreal in a best-of-five series. The opener was a rout as Howie Morenz had five points and Harry Oliver scored twice in a 6-0 Habs victory. Two days later Connell recorded his third consecutive shutout in a 3-0 Montreal win. Both Oliver and Aurel Joliat each had two points in the victory.
The series shifted to the Matthews Arena in Boston for games three and (if necessary) four. The Bruins made it necessary as Tiny Thompson had a 33-save shutout and the Bruins finally solved Connell. Bun Cook, brother of the Habs Bill, opened the scoring in the first period and Carson Cooper added an insurance goal late in the game to make the final 2-0 Boston.
The Canadiens would rebound and clinch their record sixth Stanley Cup with a 2-1 victory in the fourth game. Tiny Thompson was brilliant in the Boston net, the Habs outshot the Bruins 51-20, but Harry Oliver and Nels Stewart put Montreal up 2-0. Bun Cook would cut the lead in half with 5:36 remaining in the game but that was as close as Boston could get and the Canadiens paraded the cup around Matthews Arena after closing out the series.