The New York Americans began their hockey team NHL career as the Hamilton Tigers in 1920.

In 1924, the league added the Boston Bruins and Montreal Maroons and extended the game schedule from 24 to 30 games. This action would trigger a players strike near the end of the season.

Hamilton Tigers goal-scorer Reg Green was at the centre of the problem. Hamilton won the regular season and under a new playoff system was to meet the winner of a series between the second and third place teams.

On behalf of the Hamilton team, Green protested saying that everyone had signed a contract for a 24 game schedule. Having already played six games beyond the contract, Green and his team mates demanded $200 (!) more to play the winner of the Toronto-Montreal series.

NHL president Frank Calder refused the demands of the strikers and declared that the winner of the Toronto- Montreal series would represent the NHL in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Hamilton players were suspended on April 17th 1925 and fined $200.00. In 1925 the Hamilton Tigers were sold to investors in New York for $75,000.00. New York bootlegger 'Big Bill Dwyer' moved the team to Manhattan. The New York Americans were named the Star Spangled Skaters.

The New York Americans opened the 1925-26 season at Manhattan's Madison Square Gardens to an unheard crowd of 17,000 fans. The Americans had such stars as Billy Burch, Roy Worters, Ching Johnson, Red Dutton, Eddie Shore and many other NHL stars. The Americans had their best season ever in 1937-38 losing the semi-finals to the cup winning Chicago Black Hawks.

In 1941-42 the Americans changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans while still playing it's home games at M.S.G. Huge debts left by Dwyer and player enlistments in WW2, forced Red Dutton to fold the Americans in 1942, thus closing the book on the New York Americans.

My grandfather, Rosie Helmer, was bench coach of the Americans in 1936 and or 1937. He was a close personal friend of Red Dutton, and Lloyd Turner, Hall of Famers who stocked the team with a lot of Western Canadian talent, in fact my grandfather developed Sweeney Schriner, an amazing scorer in his day. My grandfather was in New York a year and a half, then he went back to Calgary. Anyways, my family has a game jersey worn by Red Dutton from the 1936 season. He wore number two, which is on the back of the jersey. My grandfather spent his life developing and training hockey talent out west, and had looked after several teams in various capacities as owner, manager, coach, and trainer. He even strapped on the pads on occasion. A team he trained and played on the Montreal Canadiens in 1924 was defeated for the Cup. That is the only other time Calgary got its name on the Cup, in the early years the losers name was also displayed.

Ever heard of the Calgary Tigers? The Canadians sported players like Vezina, Joliet, and Morenz. Red Dutton played for Calgary in the losing cause.

It seems to me that the team has a legendary, almost mythical, mystique about it.

My grandmother's house was brimming with sports memorabilia when I was a child. There were a lot of old Amerks living in and around Calgary; Lorne Carr was a neighbour of my mothers, in fact he once was in the snooker business with my grandfather once his hockey playing days were over.

My original impression was that MSG was erected by promoter Tex Rickert, and the New York Americans were his team, in his building. The Americans were renters in the Garden, and when Tex Rickert sold the Garden with the Amerks, the team then became also-rans and the Rangers grew in stature. It wasn't until the war that the Rangers became sole tenants of the Gardens, when the Americans folded due to a small talent pool and hard times. Tex Rickert was really the first P.T. Barnum of sports, promoting boxing, Jack Johnson was the biggest star of his era.

Dan’s e-mail is danhelmer@msn.com