1925–26 New York Americans season

The 1925–26 New York Americans season was the first season of the New York Americans ice hockey team of the National Hockey League. Despite having the roster of the previous season's top club, the Hamilton Tigers, the club finished in last place.

1925–26 New York Americans
League5th NHL
1925–26 record12–20–4
Team information
General managerTommy Gorman
CoachTommy Gorman
ArenaMadison Square Garden

Offseason

Bill Dwyer became a hockey team owner by purchasing the suspended Hamilton Tigers franchise and the rights to its players for $80,000. Dwyer got Tommy Gorman to be general manager and coach from the Ottawa Senators, where he had been part-owner. Dwyer was convinced to buy the team by Bill MacBeth, an old friend and writer for the New York Herald-Tribune. MacBeth was convinced that the sport was a cinch to be successful in New York.[1]

The negotiations with Percy Thompson for the Hamilton players started in July and broke off in September after it was found out that Mickey Roach had retired and Billy Burch was under contract to coach in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Gorman purchased Joe Simpson, Crutchy Morrison and Roy Rickey for $10,000 from the Edmonton Eskimos. Edmonton offered to sell the remaining players of the Eskimos, including Duke Keats and George Hainsworth for $45,000, but Gorman's counter-offer of $25,000 was rejected. When it became clear that the NHL was going to take back the Hamilton franchise, Thompson settled with Gorman for $75,000 on September 26, at the NHL meetings in New York.[2] Burch would eventually sign with the Americans for the then-huge salary of $25,000 for three seasons.[3]

The players still had to pay their $200 fines before being allowed to play. Calder added the condition that each player had to write a letter of apology. Some of the first letters of apology were not acceptable to Calder and he demanded and got the players to rewrite the letters. $300 of each player's salary was held back until the end of the season to ensure they would play every game.[4]

On December 4, eleven days before the first home game of the season, Dwyer would be arrested for bootlegging. Dwyer would slip into the background and Thomas Duggan of Montreal was named chairman of the board, John Hammond of the Madison Square Garden was named club president and the club was promoted as "Tex Rickard's Americans", Tex Rickard being the owner of Madison Square Gardens.[1]

Pre-season

The Americans held their first-ever training camp at Niagara Falls, Ontario. Thomas Duggan spoke about worries of the "Americanization" of ice hockey, stating that he had been approached in prior years about forming a four-team American league, but had turned it down. He convinced the other promoters to join the NHL. Duggan stated that the Americans instead signed with the NHL for $15,000 for the franchise and $85,000 for the players.[5]

Regular season

The former Hamilton players moved to New York and most moved into Bill Dwyer's headquarters, the Forrest Hotel, on 49th street, a half-block from the Gardens. The Hotel was also the home of several gangsters such as Legs Diamond, Dutch Schultz and Owney Madden, and writer Damon Runyon.[6] and the liquor and lifestyle would interfere with the team's on-ice play. Players would miss games due to drunkenness, although publicly the missed games would be attributed to injury.[7] The Americans, although having the roster of the previous season's top team, would finish in last place. The highlight of the season was a four-game winning streak in February, three of the four games played on the road.

Final standings
National Hockey League
Teams GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Ottawa Senators362484774234152
Montreal Maroons3620115917355445
Pittsburgh Pirates3619161827026439
Boston Bruins3617154928527938
New York Americans3612204688936128
Toronto St. Patricks36122139211432527
Montreal Canadiens36112417910845823

[8] Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes
Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents
1925-26 NHL Records
Team BOS MON MTM NYA OTT PIT TOR
Boston —2–3–14–1–12–2–22–42–45–1
M. Canadiens 3–2–1—1–52–40–62–43–3
M. Maroons 1–4–15–1—4–1–11–2–33–36–0
New York 2–2–24–21–4–1—1–53–31–1–4
Ottawa 4–26–02–1–35–1—4–23–1–2
Pittsburgh 4–24–23–33–32–4—3–2–1
Toronto 1–53–30–61–1–41–3–22–3–1—

Game log
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WDecember 2, 19252–1 OT@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)1–0–0
2LDecember 5, 19253–5@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)1–1–0
3WDecember 8, 19256–2@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)2–1–0
4LDecember 10, 19250–3@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)2–2–0
5LDecember 15, 19251–3Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)2–3–0
6LDecember 18, 19252–3@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)2–4–0
7LDecember 19, 19251–4Montreal Maroons (1925–26)2–5–0
8WDecember 22, 19253–2@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)3–5–0
9WDecember 26, 19253–1Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)4–5–0
10WDecember 30, 19252–1 OTToronto St. Patricks (1925–26)5–5–0
11LJanuary 2, 19262–3 OT@ Montreal Maroons (1925–26)5–6–0
12TJanuary 7, 19262–2 OTBoston Bruins (1925–26)5–6–1
13WJanuary 9, 19262–1@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)6–6–1
14LJanuary 11, 19260–1 OTOttawa Senators (1925–26)6–7–1
15LJanuary 13, 19261–2Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)6–8–1
16LJanuary 15, 19263–4@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)6–9–1
17LJanuary 19, 19260–4Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)6–10–1
18LJanuary 21, 19262–3@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)6–11–1
19TJanuary 23, 19262–2 OTBoston Bruins (1925–26)6–11–2
20TJanuary 25, 19261–1 OTMontreal Maroons (1925–26)6–11–3
21LJanuary 30, 19260–1Ottawa Senators (1925–26)6–12–3
22TFebruary 3, 19261–1 OTToronto St. Patricks (1925–26)6–12–4
23LFebruary 6, 19261–6Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)6–13–4
24LFebruary 9, 19260–4@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)6–14–4
25LFebruary 13, 19261–2@ Montreal Maroons (1925–26)6–15–4
26LFebruary 16, 19262–3Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)6–16–4
27LFebruary 18, 19263–7Boston Bruins (1925–26)6–17–4
28WFebruary 19, 19263–2@ Pittsburgh Pirates (1925–26)7–17–4
29WFebruary 24, 19266–1Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)8–17–4
30WFebruary 27, 19261–0@ Montreal Canadiens (1925–26)9–17–4
31WMarch 2, 19263–1@ Ottawa Senators (1925–26)10–17–4
32LMarch 4, 19260–1Ottawa Senators (1925–26)10–18–4
33LMarch 6, 19262–4@ Toronto St. Patricks (1925–26)10–19–4
34WMarch 9, 19261–0@ Boston Bruins (1925–26)11–19–4
35LMarch 11, 19261–5@ Montreal Maroons (1925–26)11–20–4
36WMarch 17, 19265–3Montreal Maroons (1925–26)12–20–4

Playoffs

The Americans did not qualify for the playoffs

Player stats

Regular season
Scoring
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Billy Burch362232533
Red Green351341742
Charlie Langlois36911076
Shorty Green32641040
Alex McKinnon3553834
Ken Randall3442694
Edmond Bouchard3031410
Joe Simpson322242
Mickey Roach253034
Earl Campbell291016
Rene Boileau70000
Billy Cameron210000
Jake Forbes360000
Bob Hall80000
Joe Ironstone10000
John Morrison180000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SA SV SV% SO
Jake Forbes22403612204862.302
Joe Ironstone40100034.500
Team:22803612204892.342

[9]

See also

References
  1. Frayne, p. 58
  2. Holzman, pp. 263–264
  3. Holzman, p. 264
  4. Holzman, pp. 264–265
  5. "Favors Salary Limit for Hockey Players". Ottawa Daily Citizen. October 26, 1925. p. 11.
  6. Frayne, pp.57–58
  7. Frayne, p. 60
  8. 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.
  9. "1925-26 New York Americans Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
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