page_title: History of the National Hockey League (1992–present)
section_title: Expansion
hierarchical_section_title: History of the National Hockey League (1992–present) / Expansion
caption_attribution_description: Ice hockey player Patrick Roy Русский: Вратарь в хоккее с шайбой-Патрик Руа
context_page_description: The National Hockey League has endured a tumultuous period of history in recent years. It has grown from 22 teams in 1992 to 31 today as the league expanded across the United States. Repeated labour conflicts interrupted play in 1992, 1994–95, 2004–05 and 2012–13; the second lockout caused the entire 2004–05 NHL season to be canceled, the first time in North American history that a sports league has canceled an entire season in a labour dispute. Nine franchises were added between 1991 and 2000, comprising the San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. The Vegas Golden Knights were added in 2017, and the Seattle Kraken are expected to begin play in 2021. In additions to expansion teams, five franchises have relocated during this time: the Minnesota North Stars became the Dallas Stars, the Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche, the Winnipeg Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes, the Hartford Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Atlanta Thrashers became the second franchise known as the Winnipeg Jets.
context_section_description: The Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators joined the league in 1992–93 as part of the owners' 1990 plan to expand the NHL to 28 teams within a decade.  The Lightning made NHL history when goaltender Manon Rheaume played a period of an exhibition game for them on September 23, 1992.  Rheaume became the first woman to play in an NHL game.  She also became the first woman to sign a professional hockey contract, doing so with the Lightning's farm team, the Atlanta Knights.  One year later, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers began play as the NHL's 25th and 26th franchises.  They were established as part of the NHL's attempt to regain a U.S. network television presence by expanding into southern North America.  The league expected that bringing in Blockbuster Video's Wayne Huizenga to own the Panthers, and The Walt Disney Company to own the Mighty Ducks would raise its profile.  The NHL's southward push continued in 1993 when the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas to become the Dallas Stars.
  The NHL celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Stanley Cup in 1993.  That year's finals featured Patrick Roy and the Montreal Canadiens against Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings.  After losing the first game, the Canadiens rallied from a late deficit to win game two in overtime after the Kings' Marty McSorley was penalized for using an illegal stick.  Montreal scored on the power play, sending the game into overtime.  Montreal won games three and four in overtime en route to winning the series in five games. The Canadiens won an NHL-record ten consecutive overtime games in the 1993 playoffs.
  The New York Rangers ended their "Curse of 1940" after 54 years by winning the 1994 Stanley Cup in seven games over the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers' championship was the last hurrah for the great Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s, as there were seven ex-Oilers on the team, including Mark Messier, who became the first (and to this date, the only) player to win Stanley Cups as the captain for two franchises, having captained the Oilers to the last of their five Stanley Cups in 1990. The Rangers' victory also resulted in the first Russian names to be engraved on the Stanley Cup: Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Karpovtsev, Sergei Nemchinov, and Sergei Zubov. The global audience of 285 million in 120 countries that watched the Rangers' victory included a huge European audience, including those watching across the former Soviet Union. This Stanley Cup win was the highest-rated single CBC Sports program in history to that point.
caption: The acquisition of Patrick Roy helped lead the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup championship in 1996.
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