1927–28 Ottawa Senators season

The 1927–28 Ottawa Senators season was the club's 11th season in the NHL, 43rd overall. Ottawa qualified for the playoffs to try to win their second-straight Stanley Cup; however, they were eliminated by the Montreal Maroons in a two-game total-goals series, losing by a combined score of 3–1.

1927–28 Ottawa Senators
Division	3rd Canadian
1927–28 record	20–14–10
Home record	13–4–5
Road record	7–10–5
Goals for	78
Goals against	57
Team information
General manager	Dave Gill
Coach	Dave Gill
Captain	Buck Boucher
Arena	Ottawa Auditorium
Team leaders
Goals	Frank Finnigan (20)
Assists	King Clancy (7)
Points	Frank Finnigan (25)
Penalty minutes	Alex Smith (90)
Wins	Alec Connell (20)
Goals against average	Alec Connell (1.24)
← 1926–27 1928–29 →

Regular season

The Senators were playing in by far the smallest market in the league, and were having problems financially due to escalating expenses. Part of the problem for the Senators was they had problems drawing fans against the expansion US teams, and as a result, they would play two "home" games in Detroit, collecting the bulk of the gate receipts.

The Senators would be led offensively by Frank Finnigan, who scored 20 goals and 25 points, both team highs, while 20-year-old Hec Kilrea would have a 23-point season. King Clancy would be the anchor of the Ottawa defense, and put up 15 points, along with 73 PIM. Cy Denneny would struggle all year long though, collecting only three goals, while the return of Punch Broadbent proved to be disastrous, as he only collected five points.

In goal, Alec Connell would have another strong season, earning 20 wins, having an NHL best 15 shutouts, and a 1.24 GAA. Connell would set an NHL record for longest shutout streak, as he did not allow a goal in 464 minutes and 29 seconds, recording six shutouts during the streak.

Final standings

Canadian Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PIM	Pts
Montreal Canadiens	44	26	11	7	116	48	496	59
Montreal Maroons	44	24	14	6	96	77	549	54
Ottawa Senators	44	20	14	10	78	57	483	50
Toronto Maple Leafs	44	18	18	8	89	88	436	44
New York Americans	44	11	27	6	63	128	563	28

^[1]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Vs. Canadian Division 1927–28 NHL records[2] Team MTL MTM NYA OTT TOR Total M. Canadiens — 2–2–2 4–2 3–2–1 3–2–1 12–8–4 M. Maroons 2–2–2 — 4–1–1 3–2–1 5–0–1 14–5–5 N.Y. Americans 2–4 1–4–1 — 1–5 1–4–1 5–17–2 Ottawa 2–3–1 2–3–1 5–1 — 1–1–4 10–8–6 Toronto 2–3–1 0–5–1 4–1–1 1–1–4 — 7–10–7

Vs. American Division 1927–28 NHL records Team BOS CHI DET NYR PIT Total M. Canadiens 2–0–2 4–0 2–2 4–0 2–1–1 14–3–3 M. Maroons 2–2 3–1 1–3 2–1–1 2–2 10–9–1 N.Y. Americans 1–3 3–1 0–2–2 0–3–1 2–1–1 6–10–4 Ottawa 1–3 4–0 3–0–1 0–2–2 2–1–1 10–6–4 Toronto 2–1–1 4–0 2–2 2–2 1–3 11–8–1

Schedule and results

1927–28 Ottawa Senators (20–14–10)
November: 3–4–0 (home: 1–2–0; road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 1 November 15 Maroons 2–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 0–1–0 0 2 November 17 Ottawa 2–3 Rangers Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 0–2–0 0 3 November 19 Pittsburgh 1–3 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 1–2–0 2 4 November 22 Ottawa 2–1 Detroit Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 2–2–0 4 5 November 23 Ottawa 2–0 Chicago Connell N/A Chicago Coliseum 3–2–0 6 6 November 26 Ottawa 0–1 Maroons Connell N/A Montreal Forum 3–3–0 6 7 November 29 Rangers 2–1 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 3–4–0 6
December: 4–2–4 (home: 4–0–3; road: 0–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 8 December 3 Boston 2–3 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–4–0 8 9 December 6 Toronto 0–0 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 4–4–1 9 10 December 10 Ottawa 0–0 Toronto OT Connell N/A Mutual Street Arena 4–4–2 10 11 December 13 Ottawa 1–2 Americans OT Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 4–5–2 10 12 December 15 Americans 1–4 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 5–5–2 12 13 December 17 Maroons 0–1 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 6–5–2 14 14 December 20 Ottawa 0–1 Boston Connell N/A Boston Arena 6–6–2 14 15 December 24 Toronto 1–1 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 6–6–3 15 16 December 27 Canadiens 0–0 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 6–6–4 16 17 December 31 Detroit 2–6 Ottawa Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 7–6–4 18
January: 5–4–1 (home: 3–1–0; road: 2–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 18 January 7 Americans 1–4 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 8–6–4 20 19 January 10 Ottawa 0–3 Canadiens Connell N/A Montreal Forum 8–7–4 20 20 January 14 Boston 4–2 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 8–8–4 20 21 January 17 Ottawa 1–1 Maroons OT Connell N/A Montreal Forum 8–8–5 21 22 January 19 Ottawa 1–3 Pittsburgh Connell N/A Duquesne Garden 8–9–5 21 23 January 21 Ottawa 1–2 Toronto Connell N/A Mutual Street Arena 8–10–5 21 24 January 24 Ottawa 2–0 Americans Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 9–10–5 23 25 January 26 Chicago 6–9 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 10–10–5 25 26 January 28 Ottawa 2–1 Canadiens Connell N/A Montreal Forum 11–10–5 27 27 January 31 Toronto 0–4 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 12–10–5 29
February: 4–1–4 (home: 2–1–2; road: 2–0–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 28 February 2 Maroons 0–1 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 13–10–5 31 29 February 7 Ottawa 0–0 Rangers OT Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 13–10–6 32 30 February 9 Rangers 0–0 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 13–10–7 33 31 February 16 Pittsburgh 0–0 Ottawa OT Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 13–10–8 34 32 February 18 Canadiens 0–1 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 14–10–8 36 33 February 22 Ottawa 3–2 Chicago Connell N/A Chicago Coliseum 15–10–8 38 34 February 23 Ottawa 0–0 Detroit OT Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 15–10–9 39 35 February 25 Ottawa 2–0 Pittsburgh Connell N/A Duquesne Garden 16–10–9 41 36 February 28 Canadiens 2–0 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 16–11–9 41
March: 4–3–1 (home: 3–0–0; road: 1–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Record Pts 37 March 3 Chicago 1–3 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 17–11–9 43 38 March 6 Ottawa 2–0 Boston Connell N/A Boston Arena 17–12–9 43 39 March 10 Detroit 1–3 Ottawa Connell N/A Detroit Olympia 18–12–9 45 40 March 13 Ottawa 1–1 Toronto Connell N/A Mutual Street Arena 18–12–10 46 41 March 15 Ottawa 5–2 Americans Connell N/A Madison Square Garden 19–12–10 48 42 March 17 Ottawa 1–3 Maroons Connell N/A Montreal Forum 19–13–10 48 43 March 22 Americans 0–5 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 20–13–10 50 44 March 24 Ottawa 0–4 Canadiens Connell N/A Montreal Forum 20–14–10 50
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Montreal Maroons 3, Ottawa Senators 1

The Senators played the Montreal Maroons in a first round two-game, total-goals series. The Maroons won the series by three goals to one.

Canadian Division semi-final
Montreal Maroons 3, Ottawa Senators 1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Arena Series 1 March 27 Maroons 1–0 Ottawa Connell N/A Ottawa Auditorium 0–1 2 March 29 Ottawa 1–2 Maroons Connell N/A Montreal Forum 1–3

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Frank Finnigan	RW	38	20	5	25	34
Hec Kilrea	LW	43	19	4	23	66
King Clancy	D	39	8	7	15	73
Alex Smith	D	44	9	4	13	90
Frank Nighbor	C	42	8	5	13	46
Georges Boucher	D	43	7	5	12	78
Punch Broadbent	RW	43	3	2	5	62
Cy Denneny	LW	44	3	0	3	12
Len Grosvenor	C/RW	43	1	2	3	18
Al Shields	D	7	0	1	1	2
Gene Chouinard	D	8	0	0	0	0
Alec Connell	G	44	0	0	0	0
Sam Godin	RW	24	0	0	0	0
Milt Halliday	LW	13	0	0	0	2

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Alec Connell	2760	44	20	14	10	57	1.24	15
Team:	2760	44	20	14	10	57	1.24	15

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Hec Kilrea	LW	2	1	0	1	0
Frank Finnigan	RW	2	0	1	1	6
Georges Boucher	D	2	0	0	0	4
Punch Broadbent	RW	2	0	0	0	0
King Clancy	D	2	0	0	0	6
Alec Connell	G	2	0	0	0	0
Cy Denneny	LW	2	0	0	0	0
Len Grosvenor	C/RW	2	0	0	0	2
Frank Nighbor	C	2	0	0	0	2
Al Shields	D	2	0	0	0	0
Alex Smith	D	2	0	0	0	4

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO
Alec Connell	120	2	0	2	3	1.50	0
Team:	120	2	0	2	3	1.50	0

^[3]

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

The Senators were involved in the following transactions during the 1927–28 season.^[4]

Trades

October 7, 1927	To Ottawa Senators Punch Broadbent $22,500	To Montreal Maroons Hooley Smith
October 26, 1927	To Ottawa Senators Cash	To Toronto Maple Leafs Edwin Gorman
February 1, 1927	To Ottawa Senators Cash	To London Panthers (Can-Pro) Stan Jackson

Free agents signed

October 24, 1927	From Ottawa Rideaus (OCHL) Len Grosvenor
December 19, 1927	From Quebec Castors (Can-Am) Gene Chouinard
January 24, 1928	From Rockland Hockey Club (OVHL) Sammy Godin
March 3, 1928	From New Haven Eagles (Can-Am) Allan Shields

See also

• 1927–28 NHL season

References

1. 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.
2. "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
3. "1927-28 Ottawa Senators Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
4. "Hockey Transactions Search Results".

• SHRP Sports
• The Internet Hockey Database
• National Hockey League Guide & Record Book 2007