1926–27 Chicago Black Hawks season

The 1926–27 Chicago Black Hawks season was the team's first season. Chicago was awarded an NHL franchise. Most of the team's players came from the Portland Rosebuds of the Western Canada Hockey League, which had folded the previous season. The team would qualify for the playoffs in their first season, but lost in a 2-game total goal series.

1926–27 Chicago Black Hawks
Division3rd American
1926–27 record19–22–3
Home record12–8–2
Road record7–14–1
Goals for115
Goals against116
Team information
General managerFrederic McLaughlin
CoachPete Muldoon
CaptainDick Irvin
ArenaChicago Coliseum
Team leaders
GoalsBabe Dye (25)
AssistsDick Irvin (18)
PointsDick Irvin (36)
Penalty minutesPercy Traub (93)
WinsHugh Lehman (19)
Goals against averageHugh Lehman (2.49)

Coffee tycoon Frederic McLaughlin bought the team from the syndicate who had been awarded the franchise by the NHL. McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I. This division was nicknamed the "Black Hawk Division", after a Native American of the Sauk nation, Chief Black Hawk, who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin evidently named the team in honor of the military unit, and his wife, Irene Castle, designed the team's logo.

The team faced immediate competition from Eddie Livingstone's rival Chicago Cardinals of the American Hockey Association (AHA) which also played in the Coliseum. Both teams gave away tickets in droves and engaged in a price war.[1] Under the financial strain, and pressure brought to bear on the AHA by the NHL, the Cardinals folded before the end of the season.[1] The Black Hawks would sign away several of the Cardinals' players.

Regular season

November

The Hawks would play their first ever game on November 17, 1926, at the Chicago Coliseum, defeating the Toronto St. Pats by a 4–1 score before an overflow crowd of 7,000 (the capacity was normally 6,000). Tex Rickard, who had orchestrated the start-up of the New York Rangers, organized the first game as a major social event, similar to the Rangers' own first home game. The game was a benefit, with proceeds going to a junior ice hockey league.[2] The Black Hawks first goal was scored by George Hay at 3:30 of the first period. Hay scored a goal 50 seconds later at 4:20 to lead the team with two goals, while goaltender Hugh Lehman made 36 saves in the win.

Plays from the November 30 game against the New York Rangers

Chicago would win their next game over the Boston Bruins to improve to 2–0–0, however, the club dropped their next three games, including their first ever road game, which was a 4–3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on November 30.

The Black Hawks had a 2–3–0 record in November, earning four points. Chicago was in a fourth place tie with the Boston Bruins in the five team American Division, four points behind the first place New York Rangers.

December

Chicago began December with a 2–2 tie with the New York Americans, ending their three-game losing skid, as Rabbit McVeigh scored a goal late in the third period. On December 4, the Black Hawks ended their four-game winless streak with a 5–3 win over the Montreal Maroons at the Montreal Forum. This was the first road victory for the club.

The Black Hawks would drop their next two games, however, on December 11, Hugh Lehman allowed no goals in a 3–0 win over the Montreal Canadiens to earn the first shutout in club history. This kicked off a three-game winning streak, as the Black Hawks would defeat the New York Americans and New York Rangers. Following a 3–1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on December 22, the Black Hawks would win their final two games of the month, including a 2–0 shutout win over the Detroit Cougars on Christmas Day. On December 29, the Black Hawks overcame a 4–0 deficit to defeat the Montreal Maroons 5–4 in overtime.

Chicago earned a record of 6–3–1 during the month of December, bringing their overall record to 8–6–1, earning 17 points. The Black Hawks were in first place in the American Division at the end of the month.

January

The Black Hawks lost their first two games of January, including a 4–0 loss to the New York Rangers on New Year's Day, dropping them out of first place in the American Division. Chicago returned to the win column on January 8, with a 4–0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, however, the Hawks would follow up the victory with two more losses, dropping them under .500 with a 9–10–1 record.

Chicago would win a thrilling overtime contest against the Toronto St. Pats, as Gord Fraser scored the winner to lead the Hawks to a 4–3 win over the St. Pats on January 19. The next night, the Black Hawks tied the Boston Bruins 2–2, however, the club would lose their last three games of January.

Chicago earned a record of 2–6–1 in January, dropping their overall record to 10–12–2, earning 22 points. The Black Hawks slid back in the standings, as the fell to fourth place in the American Division.

February

February began with two more losses, extending the Black Hawks losing streak to five games. The club snapped their losing skid with a 5–3 win over the best team in the NHL, the Ottawa Senators. Two nights later, on February 11, the Black Hawks easily defeated the Montreal Canadiens 6–1.

The Black Hawks lost their next two games, including a 2–1 overtime loss to the New York Americans and a 3–0 shutout loss to the Boston Bruins, dropping their record to 12–17–2. Chicago ended the two game losing skid with a very solid 4–1 win over the Detroit Cougars, then won their next game by a 3–1 score against the New York Americans. Chicago dropped their final game of February in overtime, losing 2–1 to the Montreal Maroons.

Chicago finished February with a 4–6–0 record in ten games. The Black Hawks overall win–loss record dropped to 14–18–2, earning 30 points, however, Chicago moved past the Pittsburgh Pirates and into third place in the American Division.

March

The Black Hawks started March off with a 3–0 shutout victory over the New York Rangers, as Hugh Lehman stopped all 31 shots he faced, leading Chicago to the win over the division leading team. In their next game, the Montreal Canadiens destroyed the Black Hawks, winning 7–1, which set the most goals allowed in a game by the club.

On March 5, the Black Hawks faced another tough opponent, visiting the league leading Ottawa Senators, however, the Black Hawks upset the Senators on an overtime goal by Rabbit McVeigh, as Chicago won 2–1. The Hawks won their next two games on the road, defeating the Detroit Cougars 4–1 and the Boston Bruins 4–0, bringing their overall record to 18–19–2.

Chicago returned home on March 15, however, the Bruins came out on top with a 2–1 win over the Hawks to end their three-game winning streak. The Hawks dropped their next game 6–2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Chicago finished the month with a win over the Pirates, a tie with a Cougars, and a loss to the New York Rangers.

The Black Hawks earned a 5–4–1 record in March, which marked the second time in the season that the club had a winning month. The Black Hawks would lead the league in goals scored with 115, however, they would also allow a league-high 116 goals, en route to a 19–22–3 record, good for third place in the American Division.

Babe Dye would lead the team with 25 goals, while Dick Irvin would have a club best 36 points, and finish second in the NHL scoring race by a single point to Bill Cook of the New York Rangers. Percy Traub would lead the Black Hawks with 93 penalty minutes.

Season standings
American Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
New York Rangers4425136957256
Boston Bruins4421203978945
Chicago Black Hawks441922311511641
Pittsburgh Pirates44152637910833
Detroit Cougars44122847610528

[3]

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
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPts
1November 17Toronto St. Pats1–4Chicago Black Hawks1–0–02
2November 20Boston Bruins1–5Chicago Black Hawks2–0–04
3November 24Detroit Cougars1–0Chicago Black Hawks2–1–05
4November 27Pittsburgh Pirates5–3Chicago Black Hawks2–2–04
5November 30Chicago Black Hawks3–4New York Rangers2–3–04
6December 1Chicago Black Hawks2–2New York Americans2–3–15
7December 4Chicago Black Hawks5–3Montreal Maroons3–3–17
8December 7Ottawa Senators3–2Chicago Black Hawks3–4–17
9December 9Chicago Black Hawks2–5Toronto St. Pats3–5–17
10December 11Chicago Black Hawks3–0Montreal Canadiens4–5–19
11December 15New York Rangers2–6Chicago Black Hawks5–5–111
12December 18New York Americans2–4Chicago Black Hawks6–5–113
13December 22Montreal Canadiens3–1Chicago Black Hawks6–6–113
14December 25Detroit Cougars0–2Chicago Black Hawks7–6–115
15December 29Montreal Maroons4–5Chicago Black Hawks8–6–117
16January 1New York Rangers4–0Chicago Black Hawks8–7–117
17January 4Pittsburgh Pirates2–1Chicago Black Hawks8–8–117
18January 8Chicago Black Hawks4–0Pittsburgh Pirates9–8–119
19January 11Chicago Black Hawks3–6Boston Bruins9–9–119
20January 16Chicago Black Hawks4–5New York Rangers9–10–119
21January 19Toronto St. Pats3–4Chicago Black Hawks10–10–121
22January 22Boston Bruins2–2Chicago Black Hawks10–10–222
23January 27Chicago Black Hawks2–4Pittsburgh Pirates10–11–222
24January 29Chicago Black Hawks1–6Toronto St. Pats10–12–222
25February 1Chicago Black Hawks3–4Detroit Cougars10–13–222
26February 3Chicago Black Hawks0–3Montreal Maroons10–14–222
27February 5Chicago Black Hawks1–2Ottawa Senators10–15–222
28February 9Ottawa Senators3–5Chicago Black Hawks11–15–224
29February 11Montreal Canadiens1–6Chicago Black Hawks12–15–226
30February 13Chicago Black Hawks1–2New York Americans12–16–226
31February 15Chicago Black Hawks0–3Boston Bruins12–17–226
32February 19Chicago Black Hawks4–1Detroit Cougars13–17–228
33February 23New York Americans1–3Chicago Black Hawks14–17–230
34February 26Montreal Maroons2–1Chicago Black Hawks14–18–230
35March 1New York Rangers0–3Chicago Black Hawks15–18–232
36March 3Chicago Black Hawks1–7Montreal Canadiens15–19–232
37March 5Chicago Black Hawks2–1Ottawa Senators16–19–234
38March 8Chicago Black Hawks4–1Detroit Cougars17–19–236
39March 13Chicago Black Hawks4–0Boston Bruins18–19–238
40March 15Boston Bruins2–1Chicago Black Hawks18–20–238
41March 17Chicago Black Hawks2–6Pittsburgh Pirates18–21–238
42March 19Pittsburgh Pirates2–3Chicago Black Hawks19–21–240
43March 22Detroit Cougars3–3Chicago Black Hawks19–21–341
44March 25Chicago Black Hawks0–4New York Rangers19–22–341

Playoffs

Chicago would earn a spot in the playoffs and face the Boston Bruins in a 2-game total goal series. The Bruins would win the opening game by a 6–1 score, while the teams would play to a 4–4 draw in the 2nd game, giving the Bruins the series win with a 10–5 total score, and ending the Black Hawks first season.

Boston Bruins 10, Chicago Black Hawks 5
#DateVisitorScoreHomeRecord
1March 29Boston Bruins6–1Chicago Black Hawks0–1
2March 31Chicago Black Hawks4–4Boston Bruins0–1–1

Player statistics

Regular season
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Dick IrvinC4318183634
Babe DyeRW412553014
George HayLW351482212
Mickey MacKayC341482223
Gord FraserD441462089
Charley McVeighC/LW431241623
Cully WilsonRW39841240
Bobby TrappD4442692
Eddie RoddenC193360
Duke DukowskiD2832516
Percy TraubD4202293
Ken DoratyF180000
Hugh LehmanG440000
Gord McFarlaneRW/D20000
Jim RileyLW30000
Art TownsendD50000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Hugh Lehman279744192231162.495
Team:279744192231162.495

Playoffs
Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
George HayLW21232
Dick IrvinC22024
Gord FraserD21016
Cully WilsonRW21016
Eddie RoddenC20110
Duke DukowskiD20000
Babe DyeRW20002
Hugh LehmanG20000
Mickey MacKayC20000
Charley McVeighC/LW20000
Bobby TrappD20004
Percy TraubD20006
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Hugh Lehman120201105.000
Team:120201105.000

[5]

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals
      MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SO = Shutouts;

See also

References
  • Ross, J. Andrew (2015). Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press.
Notes
  1. Ross 2015, p. 155.
  2. Schreiber, Frank. "Blackhawks Win Hockey Opener 4–1". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 19.
  3. 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.
  4. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. "1926-27 Chicago Black Hawks Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
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