The first season of the "big league" - a term coined by a sportswriter in Toronto, and one that wouldn't last for reasons we'll see later - was a good and entertaining season with a denouement that was right out of Hollywood even if it took place on the other side of the continent.

It almost seemed fated, though of course it was not. It was a product of two highly competitive individuals - one of whom was part of one of the richest families in the U.S. and the other who was less wealthy, but was very, very good at judging hockey talent. On the one side was Samuel Bigsby. A scion of one of New York's wealthiest and most infamous families, Mr. Bigsby owned the New York Shamrocks and the magnificent arena the team called home - Bigsby Gardens. The other was a lifelong hockey man, wealthy in his own right, who had excelled as a player, a coach and a general manager in his sport. That man was William T. Yeadon. Until the season before Yeadon had actually owned the New York Eagles. Now, having sold off most of his shares (he retained a somewhat modest 10% interest in the team), the former defenseman remained the coach and personnel man for his team. The icing on the cake was that the two clubs shared the Bigsby Gardens, with the Eagles paying rent to the Shamrocks' owner.

They met for the first time on opening night - the schedule makers had an eye for drama and got the "big league" off to a rollicking start. The game was technically a home game for the Eagles, but the crowd was fairly evenly split between partisans of both the Eagles and Shamrocks. The usual cloud of cigar smoke wafting through the rafters may have obscured the view for the fans in the cheap seats, but everyone in attendance was treated to a great game. The clubs battled through over 59 minutes to a 3-3 tie before the game was won by eventual McDaniels Trophy winner Andre St. Laurent of the Eagles. He beat the very dependable Davey Vert with a wrist shot into the top-right corner of the net with just 37 seconds left on the clock. The tally was St. Laurent's second of the game (he'd go on to lead the league with 36 goals) and the Eagles held on for the few remaining ticks of the clock to stun the favored Shamrocks.

For the Eagles, it was a sign of things to come - playing in the arguably tougher Canadian Division (where they had to battle the ever-talented Athletics and Valiants among others) - the Eagles soared to 53 points behind the St. Laurent brothers, with Bill Yeadon behind the bench (and on one occasion, back on the ice as a defenseman when injuries left the club a man short). The Eagles scored 105 goals, second only to - yep, the Shamrocks (110) - and were the third stingiest as well. For the Shamrocks, it may have served as a wakeup call - the greenshirts went on a tear, and though they'd eventually come back to earth a bit, they finished the season with a 29-15-0 mark, a league high 110 goals and a league-low 70 allowed. They were the class of the American Division and the NAHC as a whole.

The Canadian Division featured a much tighter race than that of the American Division. The Ottawa club dogged the heels of the Eagles all season long as did the surprising Chicago Packers and the always dangerous Montreal Valiants. For the Packers, a team in just its second season, to be competitive was a surprise and a large bit of the credit can be laid at the feet of owner Augustus Hoch, who made it clear that he wanted a contending club and gave his personnel man the money to make it happen - the first move was bringing in Jack Barrell from Toronto and the right winger delivered a 20-goal season and ultimately won the Yeadon Trophy as well. The Valiants were let down by their defense because their offense was very good. Ottawa had a solid defense as always, but couldn't score enough to make a push to catch the Eagles.

The American Division belonged to the Shamrocks from the drop of the puck in November. Frank Denny's Boston club enjoyed a solid season to come in second with a 21-19-4 mark while the two Canadian clubs in the American Division (the Nationals and Quebec) each posted 39 points. Detroit - like Chicago a second-year club- was not as aggressive in acquiring talent and was the league's poorest performer, going 14-26-4.

Part of the NAHC's new rules included the provision to have six clubs in the postseason. The second and third-place clubs in each division would play a two-game, total goals series with the winner taking on the first-place clubs. The winners of those series would then face off for the Challenge Cup.

The initial series pit the Bees and Nationals in the American and the Athletics and Packers in the Canadian. The Nationals got in by virtue of having one win more than the Champlains though they each had 39 points. It didn't matter as the Bees made quick work of the Nats, winning the total goals series by scores of 3-1 and 4-0. The Athletics also advanced, downing the Packers 3-1 and 2-3 for a 5-4 total. The Bees then faced the Shamrocks in another two-game, total-goals matchup - this time the Shamrocks won by 4-0 and 3-1 margins and the Canadian championship went to the Eagles thanks to a 2-1 and 2-0 win over the Athletics. 

This set up a grudge match between the two New York clubs for the Challenge Cup. The Shamrocks would take the hardware in the best-of-five series, winning in a sweep, though each game was decided by one goal margins: 2-1, 1-0 and 3-2. Samuel Bigsby, cigar clamped between his teeth raised the cup on the ice after game three while Bill Yeadon looked on stonily. The rivalry had been born back in November, but now it had reached another level.

 

North American Hockey Confederation Standings 1926-27

American Division GP W L T PTS GF GA   Canadian Division GP W L T PTS GF GA
New York Shamrocks 44 29 15 0 58 110 70   New York Eagles 44 26 17 1 53 105 75
Boston Bees 44 21 19 4 46 102 99   Ottawa Athletics 44 21 20 3 45 81 74
Montreal Nationals 44 17 22 5 39 70 99   Chicago Packers 44 21 21 2 44 92 94
Quebec Champlains 44 16 21 7 39 89 102   Montreal Valiants 44 20 22 2 42 92 101
Detroit Bulldogs 44 14 26 4 32 77 96   Toronto Dukes 44 19 21 4 42 92 100

 

NAHC SCORING LEADERS 1926-27

Player Goals   Player Assists   Player Points  
Andre St. Laurent, NYE 36   Buck Bernier, NYE 17   Andre St. Laurent, NYE 40  
Chris Schneider, NYS 26   Nels Shepherd, TOR 15   Nels Shepherd, TOR 32  
Harvey McLeod, VAL 23   Danny McLachlan, CHI 14   Chris Schneider, NYS 32  
Ben Clayton, NYS 23   Bernie St. Laurent, NYE 10   Buck Bernier, NYE 31  
Dad Weller, QUE 21   Elmer Morey, QUE 10   Dad Weller, QUE 30  
Jack Barrell, CHI 20   Ace Anderson, OTT 9   Harvey McLeod, VAL 30  
Albert Fortin, TOR 19   Dad Weller, QUE 9   Danny McLachlan, CHI 28  
Frank Gerow, BOS 19   Four players tied 8   Albert Fortin, TOR 26  
Nels Shepherd, TOR 17         Three players tied 25  
Three players tied 16              

 

NAHC GOALIE LEADERS 1926-27

Player W L T ShO GAA
Davey Vert, NYS 29 14 0 9 1.59
Sam Jordan, OTT 21 10 3 10 1.64
Dutch Lenz, NYE 23 12 1 10 1.65
Fred Brown, BOS/NYE 15 13 3 5 1.66
John Murphy, DET 14 26 4 5 2.06

 

AWARD WINNERS:

McDaniels Trophy - Andre St. Laurent, NY Eagles

Yeadon Trophy - Jack Barrell, Chicago