# 1926–27 New York Rangers season

The 1926–27 New York Rangers season was the franchise's first season. The team placed first in the new American Division and qualified for the playoffs, losing to the Boston Bruins. They were the last expansion team to win their division until the 1967–68 Philadelphia Flyers (which had a division full of expansion teams) and the last to do so without guarantee to win it until the 2017–18 Vegas Golden Knights. In the playoffs that year, they lost to second place Boston Bruins in the Semifinals.

## Off-season

The Rangers team was organized by Conn Smythe who used his extensive knowledge of available amateur players along with sound selection of players available from the dispersal of the Western Hockey League (WHL):
* The brothers Bill and Bun Cook were part of the dispersed players of the WHL, having played for the Saskatoon Sheiks;
* Frank Boucher was from the Vancouver Maroons of the WHL;
* Leo Bourgeault was also from Saskatoon of the WHL;
* Murray Murdoch had been a member of the 1923 Memorial Cup-winning University of Manitoba;
* Paul Thompson was a member of the junior Calgary Canadians, Memorial Cup winners in 1926;
* Taffy Abel had been a member of the silver medal-winning United States team in the 1924 Olympics;
* Stan Brown had been a member of the Allan Cup-winning Toronto Dentals team.
Smythe signed several players from the amateur Minneapolis Millers, including Taffy Abel, Billy Boyd and Ching Johnson. The 1925–26 Millers also provided other players to the NHL in the future, including Cooney Weiland and Tiny Thompson, Paul Thompson's brother.
Training camp was held in Toronto at the Ravina Gardens arena near Smythe's home. However, before the season started, Smythe was fired by the club and Lester Patrick took over from Smythe. Patrick received the job as part of the dispersal agreement of the WHL. His brother Frank received a job at the Boston Bruins. Smythe would eventually receive a $10,000 (1926) (equivalent to 137,846.67 in 2023) severance, a large amount in those days.

## Regular season

Unlike the arenas where the players played before, the Madison Square Garden was kept heated. The temperature was warm due to the insistence of Tex Rickard, who insisted that "the public was everything and the performers nothing". The players complained about the conditions publicly and to Lester Patrick.
On opening night November 16, 1926 at Madison Square Garden, the ceremonial face-off between Frank Boucher of the Rangers and Nels Stewart of the Montreal Maroons was done by Lois Moran, the silent-film movie star. The opening night referee was Lou Marsh. The starting lineup was Boucher, Bill Cook, Bun Cook, Ching Johnson, Taffy Abel and Hal Winkler. The Rangers would win the game 1–0.

### Final standings

American Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| New York Rangers | 44 | 25 | 13 | 6 | 95 | 72 | 56 |
| Boston Bruins | 44 | 21 | 20 | 3 | 97 | 89 | 45 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 44 | 19 | 22 | 3 | 115 | 116 | 41 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 44 | 15 | 26 | 3 | 79 | 108 | 33 |
| Detroit Cougars | 44 | 12 | 28 | 4 | 76 | 105 | 28 |
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

1926–27 Game Log :
November: 4–1–0 (Home: 2–0–0; Road: 2–1–0)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
116Montreal Maroons1–01–0–0
220@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–12–0–0
325@ Pittsburgh Pirates2–02–1–0
427@ Montreal Canadiens2–03–1–0
530Chicago Black Hawks4 – 3 OT4–1–0 :
December: 3–5–1 (Home: 2–1–1; Road: 1–4–0)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
64@ Detroit Cougars1–04–2–0
77@ Boston Bruins1–05–2–0
812Boston Bruins2 – 1 OT6–2–0
915@ Chicago Black Hawks6–26–3–0
1019Detroit Cougars1 – 1 OT6–3–1
1121Pittsburgh Pirates1–07–3–1
1223@ Ottawa Senators1–07–4–1
1326@ New York Americans5–27–5–1
1428Ottawa Senators3 – 2 OT7–6–1 :
January: 8–1–2 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 3–1–0)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
151@ Chicago Black Hawks4–08–6–1
166Montreal Canadiens1–09–6–1
179Detroit Cougars4–110–6–1
1811@ Montreal Maroons3–211–6–1
1913Toronto Maple Leafs1 – 1 OT11–6–2
2016Chicago Black Hawks5–412–6–2
2118@ Boston Bruins7–312–7–2
2220Boston Bruins2 – 2 OT12–7–3
2323New York Americans2–013–7–3
2427@ Montreal Canadiens3–214–7–3
2529Detroit Cougars2–015–7–3 :
February: 5–4–1 (Home: 2–4–0; Road: 3–0–1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
261Montreal Canadiens1 – 0 OT15–8–3
276Pittsburgh Pirates2–116–8–3
2810@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–217–8–3
2912@ Pittsburgh Pirates3 – 2 OT18–8–3
3015@ Ottawa Senators2 – 2 OT18–8–4
3117Montreal Maroons4–118–9–4
3220Boston Bruins3–119–9–4
3322Toronto Maple Leafs3 – 2 OT19–10–4
3424Ottawa Senators1–019–11–4
3527@ New York Americans4–120–11–4 :
March: 5–2–2 (Home: 3–0–0; Road: 2–2–2)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
361@ Chicago Black Hawks3–020–12–4
375@ Montreal Maroons0 – 0 OT20–12–5
3813@ Detroit Cougars2 – 2 OT20–12–6
3915@ Pittsburgh Pirates5–021–12–6
4017@ Detroit Cougars2–022–12–6
4120New York Americans2–123–12–6
4222Pittsburgh Pirates4–124–12–6
4325Chicago Black Hawks4–025–12–6
4426@ Boston Bruins4 – 3 OT25–13–6 :

## Playoffs

The Rangers earned a bye in the first round and met the Boston Bruins in the semi-final. The Rangers were limited to one goal in the two games, losing the series three goals to one.
Key: Win Loss
1927 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Bill Cook | 44 | 33 | 4 | 37 | 58 |
| Frank Boucher | 44 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 17 |
| Frederick Cook | 44 | 14 | 9 | 23 | 42 |
| Clarence Abel | 44 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 78 |
| Paul Thompson | 43 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 12 |
| Murray Murdoch | 44 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 12 |
| Stan Brown | 24 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| Billy Boyd | 41 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 40 |
| Ivan Johnson | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 66 |
| Leo Bourgeault$^†$ | 20 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 28 |
| Lester Patrick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Ollie Reinikka | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reg Mackey | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Clarence Abel | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| Bill Cook | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Reg Mackey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leo Bourgeault | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivan Johnson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Stan Brown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Murray Murdoch | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Thompson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frederick Cook | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Frank Boucher | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Lorne Chabot | 36 | 2307 | 22 | 9 | 5 | 56 | 1.46 | 10 |
| Hal Winkler$^‡$ | 8 | 514 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 1.87 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Lorne Chabot | 2 | 120 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1.50 | 1 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only. $^‡$Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;