1926 - 27 NHL season The 1926 - 27 NHL season was the tenth season of the National Hockey League . Ten teams played 44 games each . The success of the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Pirates led the NHL to further expand to the United States . On May 4 , 1926 , the Western Hockey League , unable to match the higher salaries being offered by the NHL , folded , with many of its assets sold to the NHL . In particular , the NHL Board of Governors had purchased the contracts of every player in the WHL for $ 258 , 000 . The entire rosters of two WHL teams , the Portland Rosebuds and Victoria Cougars , were bought , respectively , by the expansion Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars . The league also added the New York Rangers to the fold . This left the NHL in sole possession of hockey ' s greatest players , as well as sole control of hockey ' s greatest trophy , the Stanley Cup , which was won by the Ottawa Senators . A new trophy in memory of Georges Vezina , the Vezina Trophy , was donated this year by Leo Dandurand , Louis Letourneau and Joseph Cattarinich for the first time to the goaltender who had the best goals against average in the league . League Business . At the September 25 , 1926 NHL meeting , Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars were added to the league . Chicago would buy out the players of the WHL ' s Portland Rosebuds , and Detroit bought the players of the Victoria Cougars . Frederic McLaughlin was the new governor for Chicago , and Charles A . Hughes for Detroit . Toronto bought the players of the Saskatoon franchise ; and Montreal claimed George Hainsworth . The rest of the WHL players would be distributed by a committee of Frank Calder , Leo Dandurand and James Strachan . A special meeting was held on October 26 at which the NHL was split into the Canadian and American divisions ( although the New York Americans were placed in the Canadian Division ) , along with an altered playoff format : the top team from each division would meet the winner of a total - goals series between the second and third place teams from their divisions . The winners of those total - goals series would meet in a best - of - five Stanley Cup Finals . Rules Changes . The blue lines moved to sixty feet from the goal line from twenty feet from the centre red line to increase the size of the neutral zone . Regular season . The Montreal Canadiens , last place finishers in 1925 - 26 , solved their goaltending woes by signing George Hainsworth , whom Georges Vezina had designated to be his successor . They further strengthened their team by signing Herb Gardiner for defence . The Canadiens finished second in the Canadian Division to powerful Ottawa , who was the league ' s best team . Dave Gill , secretary - treasurer ( general manager ) , decided to take over as coach of the Ottawa Senators . He would be assisted by Frank Shaughnessy , a former coach of the old NHA Senators , to assist him with the strategy used in games . Ottawa finished first atop the Canadian Division as a result . During the season , the Toronto St . Patricks were bought by Conn Smythe and renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs . However , the team was under contract to use the name St . Patricks for the 1926 - 27 season , and the league ruled that the team had to fulfill its contract . They became the Maple Leafs the following season . Final standings . " Note : W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals For , GA = Goals Against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " < br > " Note : Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold " Scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Leading Goaltenders . " Note : GP = Games played ; MIN = Minutes played ; GA = Goals against ; SO = Shut outs ; AVG = Goals against average " Stanley Cup Playoffs . With the collapse of the Western Hockey League , the Stanley Cup became the new NHL champion trophy . The NHL teams now battled out amongst themselves for the coveted Cup . The new division alignment and the new playoff format also meant that an American team was guaranteed to be the first American NHL team to make the Cup Finals . Playoff bracket . " All dates in 1927 " Quarterfinals . Montreal Canadiens vs . Montreal Maroons " Montreal Canadiens win total - goals series 2 - 1 " Boston Bruins vs . Chicago Black Hawks " Boston wins total - goals series 10 goals to 5 " Semifinals . Ottawa Senators vs . Montreal Canadiens " Ottawa wins total - goals series 5 - 1 " New York Rangers vs . Boston Bruins " Boston wins total - goals series 3 - 1 " Finals . Boston Bruins vs . Ottawa Senators " Ottawa wins best - of - five series 2 - 0 - 2 " Playoff scoring leaders . " Note : GP = Games played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points " Debuts . The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1926 - 27 ( listed with their first team , asterisk ( * ) marks debut in playoffs ) : Last games . The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1926 - 27 ( listed with their last team ) :