The 1926–27 Detroit Cougars season was the

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) hockey in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. The Detroit Cougars scored 28 points, finished at the bottom of the American Division as well as the league and failed to make the playoffs in their inaugural year.

Founding

On May 15, 1926, the Townsend syndicate of investors was granted a conditional expansion NHL franchise, to begin play in the upcoming season if their arena was ready. For players, the syndicate decided to purchase one of the most successful teams from the bankrupt

Western Canada Hockey League The Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925 and disbanded in 1926. The WCHL's Victoria C ...

, the

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

, who had won the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

in 1925. On September 25, 1926, the NHL made the franchise purchase permanent, although the arena was not ready. The expansion club kept the Cougars name. The club played in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area *Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wind ...

for the entire season.

Regular season

Olympia Stadium Detroit Olympia, also known as Olympia Stadium, was a multi-purpose arena in Detroit. Nicknamed "The Old Red Barn", it was best known as the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL) from its opening in 1927 to 1979. Histo ...

wasn't finished being built in time for the 1926–27 season, so the Cougars began play in

Border Cities Arena Windsor Arena (nicknamed The Barn, because of its age, wooden construction, and its appearance of a giant barn) is an indoor arena located in Windsor, Ontario. Its capacity is approximately 4,400 with standing room. The arena's ice is an asymme ...

right across the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario, Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively refe ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The team struggled as the players adjusted to the style of play in the NHL and the team finished with only twelve wins on the season and over 80,000

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

in debt. The team's total of 28 points is the lowest total points for a season in the Detroit Red Wings' franchise history. The team's first game, a "home" game in Windsor, was played on November 18 before a sell-out crowd of 6,000. Starting goaltender

Hap Holmes Harry George "Hap" Holmes (February 21, 1888 – June 27, 1941) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. As a professional, Holmes won the Stanley Cup four times, with four teams. He tied the record of his 1914 Stanley Cup winning T ...

took ill two hours before game time and substitute

Herb Stuart Herbert Neville Stuart (March 30, 1899 — he was buried January 12, 1981) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played from 1919 to 1936 in various professional and amateur leagues. While Stuart primarily played in the minor Int ...

gave up two goals in the first three minutes before shutting down the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

for the rest of the game. However, Detroit could not score on Doc Stewart in the Boston net and lost 2–0. Haldor "Slim" Halderson scored the first goal in franchise history in the third period of a loss to Pittsburgh on November 20. The team won its first game on November 24, defeating expansion cousins

Chicago Black Hawks (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, 1–0, in Chicago.

Frank Frederickson Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson (Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson; June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979) was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as ...

scored the game's only goal. On November 30,

Russell Oatman Warren Russell Oatman (February 19, 1905 – October 25, 1964) was a Canadian ice hockey player. Oatman played 121 games in the National Hockey League with the Detroit Cougars, Montreal Maroons and New York Rangers between 1926 and 1929. His brot ...

had the first multiple goal game in franchise history, scoring two goals in a 4–0 victory over the Maroons. In the same game, Hap Holmes recorded the first shutout in franchise history. On January 1, 1927, the Cougars suspended Oatman and

Hobie Kitchen Chapman Hobart Kitchen (February 8, 1903 — Unknown) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played 47 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Maroons and Detroit Cougars between 1925 and 1927. He also played parts of three seasons in ...

for "breaking training." The Cougars then shook up their line-up that week by selling Oatman to the Maroons and trading

Frank Fredrickson Sigurdur Franklin Fredrickson (Sigurður Franklín Friðriksson; June 3, 1895 – May 28, 1979) was an Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey player and aviator. As a player and coach, he was significant to both the amateur and professional ice hockey as ...

and

Harry Meeking Henry Arthur "Hurricane Howie" Meeking (November 4, 1894 – December 13, 1971) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played three seasons in the National Hockey League for the Toronto Arenas, Detroit Cougars and Boston Bruins. He was ...

to the Bruins for

Duke Keats Gordon Blanchard "Duke, Iron Duke" Keats (March 1, 1895 – January 16, 1972) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who played for the Toronto Blueshirts of the National Hockey Association (NHA), Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Canada Hocke ...

and

Archie Briden Edward Archibald "Red" Briden (July 16, 1897 – June 8, 1974) was a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played 14 games in the National Hockey Association, 72 games in the National Hockey League, 82 games in the Pacific Coast Hock ...

. After 33 games, the Cougars replaced Duncan as coach with Keats. Duncan has a record of 10–21–2. Keats record was 2–7–2.Hahn, Beam(2008), p.212

Final standings

''For complete final standings, see

1926–27 NHL season The 1926–27 NHL season was the tenth season of the National Hockey League. The success of the Boston Bruins and the Pittsburgh Pirates led the NHL to expand further within the United States. The league added three new teams: the Chicago Black ...

Record vs. opponents

Schedule and results

November

Record: 3–2–0; Home: 1–1–0; Road: 2–1–0

December

Record: 2–6–1; Home: 1–4–0; Road: 1–2–1

January

Record: 3–8–1; Home: 1–2–0; Road: 2–6–1

February

Record: 2–6–0; Home: 2–4–0; Road: 0–2–0

March

Record: 2–6–2; Home: 1–4–1; Road: 1–2–1 *Green background indicates win. *Red background indicates regulation loss. *Yellow background indicates tie.

Playoffs

The Detroit Cougars failed to make the playoffs.

Player statistics

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes'' *Stats reflect games played with Detroit only.

Goaltending

''Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average''

Awards and records

Trophies and awards

Records

Milestones

Transactions

The Cougars were involved in the following transactions during the 1926–27 season.

Trades

References

* ;Notes

External links

*Player stats:''
Detroit Red Wings player stats
on hockeydb.com *Game log:''
Detroit Red Wings game log
on detroithockey.net *Team standings:''

on hockeydb.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1926-27 Detroit Cougars season

Detroit Red Wings seasons Detroit Cougars Detroit Cougars