The1925–26 NHL season was theninthseason of theNational Hockey League (NHL). The NHL dropped theHamilton Tigers and added two new teams, theNew York Americans and thePittsburgh Pirates, to bring the total number of teams to seven. TheOttawa Senators were the regular-season champion, but lost in the NHL playoff final to theMontreal Maroons. The Maroons then defeated the defendingStanley Cup championVictoria Cougars of the newly renamedWestern Hockey League three games to one in a best-of-five series to win their first Stanley Cup.

A special meeting was held on September 22, 1925, to discuss expansion to New York City. The NHL approved the dropping of theHamilton Tigers franchise and the adding of theNew York Americans club, which would sign the Hamilton players after many had paid a reinstatement fee for their players strike the year before.^[1] The New York franchise was granted to Colonel J. S. Hammond and T. J. Duggan, although the ownership was held secretly by"Big Bill" Dwyer, an infamous bootlegger from New York City, to play in New York'sMadison Square Garden. Former Ottawa executiveTommy Gorman, joined the Americans' organization.

At the annual meeting on November 7, 1925, the league added another new expansion franchise, in Pittsburgh, the thirdUnited States-based team in the NHL. The Ottawa Senators objected to the adding of the team, but were outvoted.^[1] The Pittsburgh team, known as the Pirates, was formed because former Toronto NHA ownerEddie Livingstone had been again threatening to form a rival league and mentioned Pittsburgh as one of the possible franchise locations. League presidentFrank Calder and the governors quickly agreed to grant thePittsburgh Yellow Jackets organization an NHL franchise, known as thePittsburgh Pirates, like the baseball club.Odie Cleghorn left the Canadiens to sign on as playing-coach with Pittsburgh.^[1]

Alex Currie, a formerOttawa Senators player in the old NHA, was hired to coach the team.

The league imposed a salary cap of $35,000 per team in an effort to curb player's salaries. The Pittsburgh Pirates'Lionel Conacher was paid $7,500 for the season, the Montreal Maroons'Dunc Munro was also paid $7,500, theNew York Americans'Billy Burch was paid $6,500, the Americans'Joe Simpson, and theToronto Maple Leafs'Hap Day were paid $6,000.^[2]

• Only two players on defence within the blue line at a time.
• A faceoff for 'ragging the puck' unless playing short-handed.
• Only team captains would be allowed to talk to referees.
• Timekeepers would signal the end of a period with a gong instead of the referee's whistle.
• Goalkeeper pads were limited to 12 inches (300 mm) wide.
• 14-player roster limits. Only 12 to be dressed for any one game.
• Team salary cap of $35,000.

^[3]

• The expansionNew York Americans moved into thethird building named Madison Square Garden.
• The expansionPittsburgh Pirates moved intoDuquesne Garden.

The Hamilton Tigers had spent their first five seasons in the NHL in last place until last season where they went from worst to first. The success enjoyed by the Tigers players was not carried over to New York, though, as the Americans finished fifth overall with a record of 12–20–4.

Eddie Gerard improved the Montreal Maroons by signingNels Stewart andBabe Siebert and signing former OlympianDunc Munro for defence. The Maroons were on their way to glory. Nels Stewart not only set a record for goals by a first-year player, but became the first rookie to win the scoring title. Stewart also won the Hart Trophy as league MVP. Stewart's record of 34 goals remains an NHL record for rookies until 1970–71.^[2]

From the1910–11 seasonGeorges Vezina had been the Montreal Canadiens goaltender, and had led them to the Cup in 1916 and 1924. In the first game of this season, he collapsed on the ice as the second period got underway. It was found he had tuberculosis, and he died in March 1926.^[2] The Canadiens finished last in the standings and missed the playoffs.

Ottawa's coach Curry was quite successful, as he took a team that had gone from fourth overall to first with an impressive record of 24–8–4, and the expansionPittsburgh Pirates, with a strong cast of ex-amateurs led by futureHall of FamersRoy Worters andLionel Conacher, finished third. The Pirates introduced "on-the-fly" player substitution to the NHL, a practice already in use in the Western League.^[2]

First game atMadison Square Garden December 15, 1925

The first regular-season game at Madison Square Garden between theMontreal Canadiens and the expansionNew York Americans was a big event. Opening ceremonies included performances by theGovernor General's Body Guard Band of Toronto and the United States Military Band from West Point, displays of 'fancy skating', a miniature game between the team's mascots and the opening faceoff was made by New York MayorJohn F. Hylan andTex Rickard. The attendance was 19,000 and the ticket prices ranged from $1.50 to $11.50. Gate receipts were donated to the Neurological Society of New York. Montreal won the game, officiated byCooper Smeaton 3–1, and were awarded the newPrince of Wales Trophy.^[4] (The Trophy would subsequently be given as an award to the NHL playoff champions.)

One innovation brought in by the new Rangers was the painting of the ice white. After a half-inch of ice was frozen, it was painted white, and another inch of ice was frozen on top.^[5]

^[6]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.

This is the last season that saw challengers from outside of the NHL compete for the Stanley Cup. At the beginning of the season, theWestern Canada Hockey League renamed itself theWestern Hockey League because one of its teams, theRegina Capitals, had moved to the States to play inPortland, Oregon. They were renamed thePortland Rosebuds.

Once again, theVictoria Cougars finished third in their league but once again won their league championship and the right to play for the Stanley Cup. The previous season, the Cougars beat theMontreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup with that being the only time in NHL history in which a non-NHL team won the Cup. After the 1926 playoffs, the Western Hockey League folded leaving the Stanley Cup entirely to the NHL. The Cup was never again contested by a non-NHL team. This was also the only season in NHL history where the number of playoff berths was less than half of the number of teams in the league and is the most recent season in which none of theOriginal Six qualified for the playoffs (as of 2023).

The second seedMontreal Maroons beat the third seedPittsburgh Pirates and then went on to beat first placeOttawa Senators two goals to one in a two-gametotal goals series, thus capturing theO'Brien Cup,Prince of Wales Trophy and the right to play the Victoria Cougars for the Stanley Cup.

Nels Stewart was "Old Poison" to the Victoria Cougars, as he scored six goals in the four games and goaltender Clint Benedict shut out the westerners three times.

The newPrince of Wales Trophy was introduced this season. It was first presented to the Montreal Canadiens as winners of the first game in the newMadison Square Garden. The trophy was then intended to be used as a new trophy to be awarded to the champions of the National Hockey League. The existingO'Brien Cup, given also to the league champions, was not retired.Nels Stewart won the Hart for the first time in his career.Frank Nighbor won his second consecutiveLady Byng Trophy.

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

Source: NHL.^[7]

GP = Games played, GA = Goals against, SO =Shutouts, GAA =Goals against average

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points

• Boston Bruins:Art Ross
• Montreal Canadiens:Leo Dandurand
• Montreal Maroons:Eddie Gerard
• New York Americans:Tommy Gorman
• Ottawa Senators:Alex Currie
• Pittsburgh Pirates:Odie Cleghorn
• Toronto St. Patricks:Eddie Powers

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1925–26 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

• Wildor Larochelle, Montreal Canadiens
• Albert Leduc, Montreal Canadiens
• Pit Lepine, Montreal Canadiens
• Babe Siebert, Montreal Maroons
• Nels Stewart, Montreal Maroons
• Joe Simpson, New York Americans
• Hec Kilrea, Ottawa Senators
• Roy Worters, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Harold Darragh, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Baldy Cotton, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Lionel Conacher, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Hib Milks, Pittsburgh Pirates

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1925–26 (listed with their last team):

• Gerry Geran, last active player to have been a member of theMontreal Wanderers franchise.
• Dave Ritchie, last active player to have been a member of theQuebec Bulldogs franchise.
• Georges Vezina, Montreal Canadiens

• List of Stanley Cup champions
• Western Hockey League
• List of pre-NHL seasons
• 1925 in sports
• 1926 in sports

• Coleman, Charles L. (1966).The Trail of the Stanley Cup, vol.1 1893–1926 inc. National Hockey League.
• Diamond, Dan, ed. (2000).Total Hockey. Total Sports.ISBN 1-892129-85-X.
• Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011).The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates.ISBN 978-1-894801-22-5.
• Dryden, Steve, ed. (2000).Century of hockey. Toronto, ON: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.ISBN 0-7710-4179-9.
• Fischler, Stan; Fischler, Shirley; Hughes, Morgan; Romain, Joseph; Duplacey, James (2003).The Hockey Chronicle: Year-by-Year History of the National Hockey League. Publications International Inc.ISBN 0-7853-9624-1.
• McFarlane, Brian (1973).The Story of the National Hockey League. New York, NY: Pagurian Press.ISBN 0-684-13424-1.
• Ross, J. Andrew (2015).Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse University Press.ISBN 9780815633839.

Notes

• Hockey Database
• NHL.com

• 1925–26 NHL season
• 1925–26 in Canadian ice hockey by league
• 1925–26 in American ice hockey by league

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from August 2023
• Short description matches Wikidata