After the Hamilton Tigers went on strike over payment in the postseason, Bill Dwyer, New York's most-celebrated prohibition bootlegger, seized a perfect opportunity to purchase the troubled team for $75,000 and bring NHL hockey to New York. A year after the Boston Bruins became the first NHL team based in the US, New York got a team of its own.

Playing at the newly created Madison Square Garden on 50th street and 8th Avenue, the Americans, clad his team in eye-catching red, white, and blue stars and stripes uniforms made their New York debut on December 15th in front of 17,000 fans losing to the Montreal Canadiens 3-1. "The Star-Spangled Skaters" as they were sometimes called would go on to finish their first season in fifth place with a record of 12-20-4, as Yonkers native Billy Burch led the team with 22 goals.

Following the season, Garden management who were impressed with the popularity of the Americans went out and landed an expansion team that would share the Garden, despite promising a year earlier they would not start a team of their own.