1927–28 New York Rangers season

The 1927–28 New York Rangers season was the franchise's second season. In the regular season, the Rangers finished in second place in the American Division with a 19–16–9 record and qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs. In a pair of two-game total goals series, New York defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Bruins to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they faced the Montreal Maroons.^[1] The Rangers defeated the Maroons 3–2 to win their first Stanley Cup.

1927–28 New York Rangers
Stanley Cup champions
Division	2nd American
1927–28 record	19–16–9
Goals for	94
Goals against	79
Team information
General manager	Lester Patrick
Coach	Lester Patrick
Captain	Bill Cook
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Frank Boucher (23)
Assists	Bun Cook (14)
Points	Frank Boucher (35)
Penalty minutes	Ching Johnson (146)
Wins	Lorne Chabot (19)
Goals against average	Lorne Chabot (1.74)
← 1926–27 1928–29 →

Regular season

Final standings

American Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Boston Bruins	44	20	13	11	77	70	558	51
New York Rangers	44	19	16	9	94	79	462	47
Pittsburgh Pirates	44	19	17	8	67	76	395	46
Detroit Cougars	44	19	19	6	88	79	395	44
Chicago Black Hawks	44	7	34	3	68	134	375	17

^[2]

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

1927-28 NHL Records
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	MON	MTM	NYA	NYR	OTT	PIT	TOR
Boston	–	4–0–2	4–2	0–2–2	2–2	3–1	2–1–3	3–1	1–2–3	1–2–1
Chicago	0–4–2	–	2–3–1	0–4	1–3	1–3	2–4	0–4	1–5	0–4
Detroit	2–4	3–2–1	–	2–2	3–1	2–0–2	2–3–1	0–3–1	3–2–1	2–2
M. Canadiens	2–0–2	4–0	2–2	–	2–2–2	4–2	4–0	3–2–1	2–1–1	3–2–1
M. Maroons	2–2	3–1	1–3	2–2–2	–	4–1–1	2–1–1	3–2–1	2–2	5–0–1
N.Y. Americans	1–3	3–1	0–2–2	2–4	1–4–1	–	0–3–1	1–5	2–1–1	1–4–1
N.Y. Rangers	1–2–3	4–2	3–2–1	0–4	1–2–1	3–0–1	–	2–0–2	3–2–1	2–2
Ottawa	1–3	4–0	3–0–1	2–3–1	2–3–1	5–1	0–2–2	–	2–1–1	1–1–4
Pittsburgh	2–1–3	5–1	2–3–1	1–2–1	2–2	1–2–1	2–3–1	1–2–1	–	3–1
Toronto	2–1–1	4–0	2–2	2–3–1	0–5–1	4–1–1	2–2	1–1–4	1–3	—

Schedule and results

1927–28 Game Log
November: 4–1–1 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 3–0–0) Game November Opponent Score Record 1 15 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2 1–0–0 2 17 Ottawa Senators 3–2 2–0–0 3 20 @ New York Americans 2–1 3–0–0 4 22 Montreal Maroons 4–3 3–1–0 5 27 Boston Bruins 1 – 1 OT 3–1–1 6 29 @ Ottawa Senators 2–1 4–1–1
December: 4–5–3 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 2–3–2) Game December Opponent Score Record 7 1 @ Montreal Maroons 1 – 1 OT 4–1–2 8 3 @ Chicago Black Hawks 4–2 4–2–2 9 4 @ Detroit Cougars 3–1 5–2–2 10 6 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 2 – 2 OT 5–2–3 11 11 Montreal Canadiens 2–0 5–3–3 12 13 @ Boston Bruins 3–2 6–3–3 13 15 Detroit Cougars 2–1 6–4–3 14 20 Pittsburgh Pirates 2–0 7–4–3 15 25 Chicago Black Hawks 2–0 8–4–3 16 27 @ Boston Bruins 2–0 8–5–3 17 29 New York Americans 3 – 3 OT 8–5–4 18 31 @ Montreal Canadiens 1–0 8–6–4
January: 6–3–1 (Home: 4–2–1; Road: 2–1–0) Game January Opponent Score Record 19 3 Detroit Cougars 4–2 8–7–4 20 8 Chicago Black Hawks 5–0 9–7–4 21 12 Boston Bruins 2 – 2 OT 9–7–5 22 14 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 6–1 9–8–5 23 15 @ Detroit Cougars 2–1 10–8–5 24 17 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 10–9–5 25 22 Pittsburgh Pirates 4–1 11–9–5 26 26 Detroit Cougars 3–0 12–9–5 27 29 @ New York Americans 7–0 13–9–5 28 31 Montreal Maroons 3–1 14–9–5
February: 3–3–3 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 1–1–2) Game February Opponent Score Record 29 4 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 4–2 14–10–5 30 7 Ottawa Senators 0 – 0 OT 14–10–6 31 9 @ Ottawa Senators 0 – 0 OT 14–10–7 32 12 Chicago Black Hawks 3–0 14–11–7 33 19 Boston Bruins 2–0 14–12–7 34 23 Pittsburgh Pirates 3–0 15–12–7 35 25 @ Chicago Black Hawks 1–0 16–12–7 36 26 @ Detroit Cougars 0 – 0 OT 16–12–8 37 28 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0 17–12–8
March: 2–4–1 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 1–3–1) Game March Opponent Score Record 38 6 @ Montreal Maroons 3–1 17–13–8 39 8 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–3 17–14–8 40 10 @ Boston Bruins 3 – 3 OT 17–14–9 41 13 Montreal Canadiens 4–1 17–15–9 42 18 New York Americans 7–3 18–15–9 43 21 @ Chicago Black Hawks 6–1 19–15–9 44 24 @ Pittsburgh Pirates 4–2 19–16–9

Playoffs

Main articles: 1928 Stanley Cup playoffs and 1928 Stanley Cup Finals

The circus knocked the Rangers out of Madison Square Garden, and all games for the Stanley Cup Finals were played in the Montreal Forum.^[3] The Maroons won game one 2–0, as Red Dutton and Bill "Bat" Phillips scored goals, and goaltender Clint Benedict made 19 saves.^[4]

A well-known incident occurred in game two when Nels Stewart fired a hard shot that struck New York goaltender Lorne Chabot in the eye. He could not continue, and the Rangers needed a goaltender.^[5] However, when the Maroons refused to let the Rangers use Alex Connell or minor league goaltender Hugh McCormick, Rangers coach Lester Patrick decided to don the pads himself.^[5][6] The Rangers then increased their defensive pressure when any Maroon attempted a shot on Patrick.^[7] Bill Cook scored, putting the Rangers ahead 1–0, but Nels Stewart was not to be denied and scored, tying the game. In overtime, Frank Boucher got the winner for the Rangers 7:05 into overtime.^[5] The 44-year-old Patrick made 17 saves in his goaltending stint.^[6]

Joe "Red Light" Miller, New York Americans goalie, was allowed to take Chabot's place in goal,^[8] and he played well in a 2–0 loss in game three.^[9] However, Frank Boucher starred as the Rangers took the next two games, and the Stanley Cup; he scored twice in the Rangers' 2–1 game five victory.^[10] The Rangers almost lost another goalie to injury in the final game when Miller was badly cut while Murray Murdoch attempted to clear a loose puck away from goal, but he was able to continue. The crowd became unruly in the third period, throwing objects onto the ice after referee Mike Rodden disallowed an apparent game-tying goal by the Maroons.^[11] Even NHL president Frank Calder was a target of some fans immediately following the game.^[12] The Rangers became the second Stanley Cup champion from the United States, and the NHL's first American Cup-winning team.^[5][13]

Key:   Win   Loss

1928 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Quarter-finals: vs. Pittsburgh Pirates – New York Rangers win series six goals to four goals # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 March 27 Pittsburgh Pirates 0–4 New York Rangers New York Rangers leads series 4 goals to 0 goals 2 March 29 Pittsburgh Pirates 4–2 New York Rangers New York Rangers win series 6 goals to 4 goals Semi-finals: vs. Boston Bruins – New York Rangers win series five goals to two goals # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 March 27 Boston Bruins 1–1 New York Rangers OT Series tied 1 goal to 1 goal 2 March 29 New York Rangers 4–1 Boston Bruins New York Rangers win series 5 goals to 2 goals Stanley Cup Finals: vs. Montreal Maroons – New York Rangers win series 3–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 5 New York Rangers 0–2 Montreal Maroons Montreal leads series 1–0 2 April 7 New York Rangers 2–1 Montreal Maroons OT Series tied 1–1 3 April 10 New York Rangers 0–2 Montreal Maroons Montreal leads series 2–1 4 April 12 New York Rangers 1–0 Montreal Maroons Series tied 2–2 5 April 14 New York Rangers 2–1 Montreal Maroons New York Rangers win series 3–2

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts PIM Frank Boucher 44 23 12 35 14 Frederick Cook 44 14 14 28 45 Bill Cook 43 18 6 24 42 Ivan Johnson 43 10 6 16 146 Murray Murdoch 43 7 3 10 14 Paul Thompson 41 4 4 8 22 Leo Bourgeault 35 7 0 7 72 Alex Gray 44 7 0 7 30 Billy Boyd 38 4 0 4 11 Clarence Abel 22 0 1 1 28 Laurie Scott 23 0 1 1 6 Frank Callighen 26 0 0 0 32

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts PIM Frank Boucher 9 7 3 10 2 Bill Cook 9 2 3 5 26 Murray Murdoch 9 2 1 3 12 Frederick Cook 9 2 1 3 10 Ivan Johnson 9 1 1 2 46 Clarence Abel 9 1 0 1 14 Alex Gray 9 1 0 1 0 Frank Callighen 9 0 0 0 0 Billy Boyd 9 0 0 0 0 Leo Bourgeault 9 0 0 0 10 Paul Thompson 8 0 0 0 30

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Lorne Chabot	44	2730	19	16	9	79	1.74	11

Goaltenders

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Lorne Chabot	6	321	2	2	1	8	1.50	1
Joe Miller	3	180	2	1	0	3	1.00	1
Lester Patrick	1	46	1	0	0	1	1.30	0

^†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.

^[14]

Note:

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;

See also

• 1927–28 NHL season

References

1. "1927–28 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
2. Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
3. "Rangers Knock Bruins Out, 4–1". The Lewiston Daily Sun. April 4, 1928. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
4. "Maroons Winners Over Rangers, 2–0, In Series Opener". Montreal Gazette. April 6, 1928. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
5. "1927–28 New York Rangers". New York Rangers. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
6. The Hockey News Century of Hockey. The Hockey News. 1999. p. 29.
7. "Patrick Added New Role To Long List Of Hockey Feats". The Montreal Gazette. April 9, 1928. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
8. "NHL Player Search: Joe Anthony Miller". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
9. "Maroons Regain Lead On Series; Win 2–0". Ottawa Citizen. April 11, 1928. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
10. "The Legends: Frank Boucher Biography". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
11. "N.Y. Rangers Took Stanley Cup And Hockey Laurels". The Montreal Gazette. April 16, 1928. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
12. "President Calder Target Of Abuse By Hockey Fans". The Montreal Gazette. April 16, 1928. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
13. "Stanley Cup Winner: New York Rangers 1927–28". Hockey Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
14. "1927–28 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-10-24.