1927–28 Boston Bruins season

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1927–28 Boston Bruins
American Division champions
Division1st American
1927–28 record20–13–11 (51 points)
Goals for77
Goals against70
Team information
General managerArt Ross
CoachArt Ross
CaptainSprague Cleghorn
ArenaBoston Arena
Average attendance6773
Team leaders
GoalsHarry Oliver (13)
AssistsEddie Shore (6)
PointsHarry Oliver (18)
Penalty minutesEddie Shore (165)
WinsHal Winkler (20)
Goals against averageHal Winkler (1.51)

The 1927–28 Boston Bruins season was the team's fourth in the NHL. The Bruins finished first in the American Division, marking its first division title in franchise history and its second playoff appearance. The team lost in the playoffs to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New York Rangers.

Offseason[edit]

The league adopted a goal net designed by Bruins general manager Art Ross; the so-called "Ross goal" would be the standard net into the 1980s.[1]

Prominent newcomers included Dutch Gainor and Dit Clapper, both of whose rights were purchased from the minor leagues, and who would make a significant impact with the Bruins down the years.[2] The Bruins also obtained Fred Gordon in the offseason, acquiring him from the Detroit Cougars for Harry Meeking,[3] while Red Stuart was traded to Boston's Minneapolis minor league team, for the rights to Gainor and Nobby Clark.[4]

Regular season[edit]

See also: 1927–28 NHL season
Winkler as a Bruin during the 1927–28 season

For the second straight season, Harry Oliver led the Bruins in scoring, and although the team's attack was relatively anemic – the Bruins finished with 77 goals, leading only the last-place teams in both divisions, the Chicago Black Hawks and the New York Americans – they cut down sharply in goals allowed, leading the division behind Hal Winkler's goaltending. Eddie Shore was the team's great star, finishing just one point behind Oliver in scoring and leading the league in penalty minutes by a wide margin.

Winkler in his own turn had fifteen shutouts, tied with Alex Connell for the league lead and a new NHL record; Winkler's mark remains the Bruins' single-season record for shutouts, over ninety years later, and is still tied for the second-most shutouts recorded in a single season. Although veteran Sprague Cleghorn was fading and missed a quarter of the season with injuries, Shore and defense partner Lionel Hitchman were ironmen, playing most of each game.[5]

With Boston's first place finish, the Bruins became the first team to win the Prince of Wales Trophy, awarded for the first time in this season.[6]

Final standings[edit]

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

[7]

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[edit]


Schedule and results[edit]

Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 T November 15, 1927 1–1 OT Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) 0–0–1
2 W November 19, 1927 5–2 Detroit Cougars (1927–28) 1–0–1
3 W November 22, 1927 1–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) 2–0–1
4 L November 26, 1927 3–4 OT New York Americans (1927–28) 2–1–1
5 T November 27, 1927 1–1 OT @ New York Rangers (1927–28) 2–1–2
6 W November 29, 1927 4–0 Montreal Maroons (1927–28) 3–1–2
7 T December 1, 1927 0–0 OT @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) 3–1–3
8 L December 3, 1927 2–3 @ Ottawa Senators (1927–28) 3–2–3
9 T December 6, 1927 1–1 OT Montreal Canadiens (1927–28) 3–2–4
10 W December 10, 1927 2–0 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) 4–2–4
11 W December 11, 1927 2–1 OT @ Detroit Cougars (1927–28) 5–2–4
12 L December 13, 1927 2–3 New York Rangers (1927–28) 5–3–4
13 L December 17, 1927 1–5 @ Montreal Canadiens (1927–28) 5–4–4
14 W December 20, 1927 1–0 Ottawa Senators (1927–28) 6–4–4
15 W December 27, 1927 2–0 New York Rangers (1927–28) 7–4–4
16 L December 29, 1927 1–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) 7–5–4
17 W January 1, 1928 3–2 @ New York Americans (1927–28) 8–5–4
18 T January 3, 1928 0–0 OT Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) 8–5–5
19 L January 7, 1928 1–4 @ Montreal Maroons (1927–28) 8–6–5
20 W January 10, 1928 3–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) 9–6–5
21 T January 12, 1928 2–2 OT @ New York Rangers (1927–28) 9–6–6
22 W January 14, 1928 4–2 @ Ottawa Senators (1927–28) 10–6–6
23 L January 17, 1928 1–3 Montreal Canadiens (1927–28) 10–7–6
24 T January 21, 1928 1–1 OT @ Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) 10–7–7
25 L January 22, 1928 2–3 OT @ Detroit Cougars (1927–28) 10–8–7
26 T January 24, 1928 0–0 OT Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) 10–8–8
27 L January 28, 1928 0–1 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) 10–9–8
28 W January 31, 1928 2–1 New York Americans (1927–28) 11–9–8
29 W February 7, 1928 4–2 Detroit Cougars (1927–28) 12–9–8
30 T February 11, 1928 1–1 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1927–28) 12–9–9
31 W February 14, 1928 1–0 Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) 13–9–9
32 W February 19, 1928 2–0 @ New York Rangers (1927–28) 14–9–9
33 W February 21, 1928 2–0 Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) 15–9–9
34 L February 25, 1928 1–3 @ Montreal Maroons (1927–28) 15–10–9
35 W February 28, 1928 2–1 Montreal Maroons (1927–28) 16–10–9
36 T March 3, 1928 0–0 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) 16–10–10
37 W March 6, 1928 1–0 Ottawa Senators (1927–28) 17–10–10
38 T March 10, 1928 3–3 OT New York Rangers (1927–28) 17–10–11
39 W March 11, 1928 1–0 @ New York Americans (1927–28) 18–10–11
40 W March 13, 1928 3–0 Detroit Cougars (1927–28) 19–10–11
41 W March 15, 1928 3–1 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) 20–10–11
42 L March 17, 1928 1–3 @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) 20–11–11
43 L March 20, 1928 2–6 Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) 20–12–11
44 L March 24, 1928 2–7 @ Detroit Cougars (1927–28) 20–13–11

[9]

Playoffs[edit]

The Bruins gained a first-round bye by virtue of winning the division, and played the New York Rangers in the second round in a two-game, total goal series. Their scoring problems of the regular season continued, exacerbated by a flu bug going through the dressing room and various minor injuries; Shore, Clapper, Gainor and Connor were particularly affected.[10]

Boston tied the first game 1–1 in New York, the Rangers' final home game of the playoffs – this was the first of perennial disruptions to the Rangers' playoff schedule due to Madison Square Garden hosting the circus in the spring. The Bruins lost the second match in Boston 4–1, on three Ranger third-period goals as the weakened Brown-and-Gold folded at last, to drop the total-goal series five goals to two. Harry Oliver, who scored a goal in each game, was the sole offensive threat.[11]

Player statistics[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Harry Oliver RW 43 13 5 18 20
Eddie Shore D 43 11 6 17 165
Frank Fredrickson C 41 10 4 14 83
Dutch Gainor C 42 8 4 12 35
Jimmy Herbert C/RW 12 8 3 11 22
Percy Galbraith LW/D 42 6 5 11 26
Harry Connor LW 42 9 1 10 36
Lionel Hitchman D 44 5 3 8 87
Dit Clapper RW/D 40 4 1 5 20
Fred Gordon RW 43 3 2 5 40
Sprague Cleghorn D 37 2 2 4 14
Hago Harrington LW 22 1 0 1 7
Nobby Clark D 5 0 0 0 0
Martin Lauder D/C 3 0 0 0 2
Hal Winkler G 44 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Hal Winkler 2780 44 20 13 11 70 1.51 15
Team: 2780 44 20 13 11 70 1.51 15

Playoffs[edit]

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM
Harry Oliver RW 2 2 0 2 4
Frank Fredrickson C 2 0 1 1 4
Percy Galbraith LW/D 2 0 1 1 6
Dit Clapper RW/D 2 0 0 0 2
Sprague Cleghorn D 2 0 0 0 0
Harry Connor LW 2 0 0 0 0
Dutch Gainor C 2 0 0 0 6
Fred Gordon RW 2 0 0 0 0
Hago Harrington LW 2 0 0 0 0
Lionel Hitchman D 2 0 0 0 2
Eddie Shore D 2 0 0 0 8
Hal Winkler G 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Hal Winkler 120 2 0 1 5 2.50 0
Team: 120 2 0 1 5 2.50 0

[12]

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;

Transactions[edit]

  • Acquired Dutch Gainor from Minneapolis of the American Hockey Association for Red Stuart, cash and future considerations, October 24, 1927.[13]
  • Purchased Dit Clapper from Boston of the Canadian-American League, October 25, 1927.[14]
  • Sold the rights to Duke Keats to Chicago, Carson Cooper to Detroit and Billy Boucher to the Americans.[15]
  • Traded Jimmy Herbert to Toronto for the rights to Eric Pettinger and $15,000, December 21, 1927.[16]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  2. ^ Coleman, Charles L. (1969). Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol II. Sherbrooke, PQ: Kendall-Hunt Publishing. p. 35.
  3. ^ "Fred Gordon Stats". hockey-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "Hockey Hall of Fame website". Dutch Gainor. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
  5. ^ Coleman, Charles L. (1969). Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol II. Sherbrooke, PQ: Kendall-Hunt Publishing. p. 39.
  6. ^ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  9. ^ "1927–28 Boston Bruins Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  10. ^ Coleman, Charles L. (1969). Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol II. Sherbrooke, PQ: Kendall-Hunt Publishing. p. 49.
  11. ^ Coleman, Charles L. (1969). Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol II. Sherbrooke, PQ: Kendall-Hunt Publishing. p. 50.
  12. ^ "1927-28 Boston Bruins Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  13. ^ "Hockey Hall of Fame website". Dutch Gainor. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
  14. ^ "Hockey Hall of Fame website". Dit Clapper. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
  15. ^ Vautour, Kevin (1997). The Bruins Book. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-55022-334-7.
  16. ^ "Boston Bruins website". Jimmy Herberts. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
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