1927–28 Detroit Cougars season

The 1927–28 Detroit Cougars season was the second season of the Detroit, Michigan National Hockey League (NHL) franchise later known as the Detroit Red Wings. The Detroit Cougars scored 44 points, finishing fourth in the American Division and failing to make the playoffs in their sophomore year.

The Cougars finally moved into what would be their home for the next fifty years, Detroit's Olympia Stadium. Their also received a new coach and general manager in Jack Adams. Adams made an immediate impact, picking up Reg Noble and quickly naming him Captain. Detroit performed much better to start off the season and only finished two points out of a playoff spot.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Regular season

Season standings

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

^[4]

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

Vs. American Division

1927–28 NHL records^[5]
Team	BOS	CHI	DET	NYR	PIT	Total
Boston	—	4–0–2	4–2	2–1–3	1–2–3	11–5–8
Chicago	0–4–2	—	2–3–1	2–4	1–5	5–16–3
Detroit	2–4	3–2–1	—	2–3–1	3–2–1	10–11–3
N.Y. Rangers	1–2–3	4–2	3–2–1	—	3–2–1	11–8–5
Pittsburgh	2–1–3	5–1	2–3–1	2–3–1	—	11–8–5

Vs. Canadian Division

1927–28 NHL records
Team	MTL	MTM	NYA	OTT	TOR	Total
Boston	0–2–2	2–2	3–1	3–1	1–2–1	9–8–3
Chicago	0–4	1–3	1–3	0–4	0–4	2–18–0
Detroit	2–2	3–1	2–0–2	0–3–1	2–2	9–8–3
N.Y. Rangers	0–4	1–2–1	3–0–1	2–0–2	2–2	8–8–4
Pittsburgh	1–2–1	2–2	1–2–1	1–2–1	3–1	8–9–3

Schedule and results

1927–28 regular season^[6]

November: 2–2–1 (home: 1–1–0; road: 1–1–1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
1	November 15	Detroit	6–0	Pittsburgh		1–0–0	2
2	November 19	Detroit	2–5	Boston		1–1–0	2
3	November 22	Ottawa	2–1	Detroit		1–2–0	2
4	November 26	Detroit	0–0	Chicago	OT	1–2–1	3
5	November 27	Mtl. Canadiens	0–2	Detroit		2–2–1	5

December: 6–4–2 (home: 3–2–1; road: 3–2–1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
6	December 1	Chicago	1–3	Detroit		3–2–1	7
7	December 4	NY Rangers	3–1	Detroit		3–3–1	7
8	December 8	NY Americans	1–2	Detroit		4–3–1	9
9	December 10	Detroit	4–1	Mtl. Maroons		5–3–1	11
10	December 11	Boston	2–1	Detroit	OT	5–4–1	11
11	December 13	Detroit	1–6	Mtl. Canadiens		5–5–1	11
12	December 15	Detroit	2–1	NY Rangers		6–5–1	13
13	December 17	Detroit	1–0	Toronto	OT	7–5–1	15
14	December 18	Pittsburgh	3–3	Detroit	OT	7–5–2	16
15	December 27	Detroit	4–4	NY Americans	OT	7–5–3	17
16	December 29	Mtl. Maroons	0–3	Detroit		8–5–3	19
17	December 31	Detroit	2–6	Ottawa		8–6–3	19

January: 4–5–0 (home: 2–3–0; road: 2–2–0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
18	January 3	Detroit	4–2	NY Rangers		9–6–3	21
19	January 5	Mtl. Canadiens	2–1	Detroit		9–7–3	21
20	January 7	Detroit	2–0	Pittsburgh		10–7–3	23
21	January 12	Toronto	2–1	Detroit		10–8–3	23
22	January 15	NY Rangers	2–1	Detroit		10–9–3	23
23	January 18	Detroit	0–2	Chicago		10–10–3	23
24	January 22	Boston	2–3	Detroit	OT	11–10–3	25
25	January 26	Detroit	0–3	NY Rangers		11–11–3	25
26	January 29	Chicago	2–4	Detroit		12–11–3	27

February: 1–4–3 (home: 0–2–2; road: 1–2–1)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
27	February 4	Detroit	0–2	Toronto		12–12–3	27
28	February 7	Detroit	2–4	Boston		12–13–3	27
29	February 9	Detroit	2–2	NY Americans	OT	12–13–4	28
30	February 12	Pittsburgh	1–0	Detroit		12–14–4	28
31	February 16	Detroit	1–0	Mtl. Maroons		13–14–4	30
32	February 19	Chicago	2–1	Detroit		13–15–4	30
33	February 23	Ottawa	0–0	Detroit	OT	13–15–5	31
34	February 26	NY Rangers	0–0	Detroit	OT	13–15–6	32

March: 6–4–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 3–2–0)

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Record	Pts
35	March 1	NY Americans	1–4	Detroit		14–15–6	34
36	March 3	Detroit	3–2	Pittsburgh		15–15–6	36
37	March 6	Toronto	1–3	Detroit		16–15–6	38
38	March 8	Mtl. Maroons	2–3	Detroit	OT	16–16–6	38
39	March 10	Detroit	1–3	Ottawa		16–17–6	38
40	March 13	Detroit	0–3	Boston		16–18–6	38
41	March 15	Detroit	1–0	Mtl. Canadiens		17–18–6	40
42	March 17	Detroit	7–0	Chicago		18–18–6	42
43	March 18	Pittsburgh	0–1	Detroit		18–19–6	42
44	March 24	Boston	2–7	Detroit		19–19–6	44

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

		Regular season					Playoffs
Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
George Hay	LW	42	22	13	35	20	–	–	–	–	–
John Sheppard	F	43	10	10	20	40	–	–	–	–	–
Carson Cooper	RW	44	15	2	17	32	–	–	–	–	–
Larry Aurie	RW	44	13	3	16	43	–	--	–	–	–
Reg Noble	F	44	6	8	14	63	–	–	–	–	–
Frank Foyston	C	24	7	2	9	16	–	–	–	–	–
Jack Walker	F	39	2	4	6	12	–	–	–	–	–
Gord Fraser*	D	30	3	1	4	50	–	–	–	–	–
Percy Traub	D	44	3	1	4	78	–	–	–	–	–
Pete Palangio	LW	13	3	0	3	8	–	–	–	–	–
Clem Loughlin	D	42	1	2	3	21	–	–	–	–	–
Stan Brown	D	24	2	0	2	4	–	–	–	–	–
Frank Sheppard	F	4	1	1	2	0	–	–	–	–	–
Gordon "Duke" Keats*	C	5	0	2	2	6	–	–	–	–	–

*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

		Regular season									Playoffs
Player		GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	SO	GAA		GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	GAA
Hap Holmes		44	2740	19	19	6	79	11	1.73		–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Awards and records

Transactions

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

Trades

April 11, 1927	To Detroit Cougars George Hay Percy Traub	To Chicago Black Hawks US$15,000
May 22, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Carson Cooper	To Boston Bruins Cash
May 22, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Harry Meeking	To Boston Bruins Fred Gordon
October 4, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Reg Noble	To Montreal Maroons 7,500 USD
October 10, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Stan Brown	To New York Rangers Archie Briden Harry Meeking
December 16, 1927	To Detroit Cougars Gord Fraser	To Chicago Black Hawks Gordon "Duke" Keats 5,000 USD
February 13, 1928^[7]	To Detroit Cougars Pete Palangio Cash	To Montreal Canadiens Stan Brown

Free agents

Player signed	Former team
F Frank Sheppard	Detroit Greyhounds (AHA)
RW Larry Aurie	London Panthers (Can-pro)

References

Statistics

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

Notes

^ Red Wings History, DetroitHockey.com, accessed October 5, 2007
^ Detroit Red Wings Historical Moments, SportsEcyclopedia.com, accessed October 5, 2007
^ Detroit Red Wings Written History Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Detroit Red Wings.com, accessed October 5, 2007
^ 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.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ "1927-28 Detroit Cougars Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
^ Pete Palangio at Hockey-Reference.com Quote: "February 13, 1928: Loaned to DET (NHL) by Montreal (Can-Pro). With cash for Stan Brown"

[1] Red Wings History, DetroitHockey.com, accessed October 5, 2007

[2] Detroit Red Wings Historical Moments, SportsEcyclopedia.com, accessed October 5, 2007

[3] Detroit Red Wings Written History Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Detroit Red Wings.com, accessed October 5, 2007

[4] 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.

[5] "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.

[Gamelog-6] "1927-28 Detroit Cougars Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved April 2, 2025.

[7] Pete Palangio at Hockey-Reference.com Quote: "February 13, 1928: Loaned to DET (NHL) by Montreal (Can-Pro). With cash for Stan Brown"

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Detroit Red Wings
Founded in 1926 Based in Detroit, Michigan
Franchise	Team General managers Coaches Players Captains Draft picks Seasons Current season
History	History (Original Six) Records Award winners Retired numbers Broadcasters
Personnel	Owner(s) Ilitch Holdings (Christopher Ilitch, chairman) General manager Steve Yzerman Head coach Todd McLellan Team captain Dylan Larkin Current roster
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Category Commons

Detroit Red Wings seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

1927–28 NHL season
Canadian Division	Mtl Canadiens Mtl Maroons NY Americans Ottawa Toronto
American Division	Boston Chicago Detroit NY Rangers Pittsburgh
See also	The S Line Stanley Cup Finals Transactions