List of NHL teams Teams . The National Hockey League originated in 1917 with six teams , and through a sequence of team expansions , reductions , and relocations currently consists of 30 teams , 24 of which are based in the United States and six in Canada . The Montreal Canadiens are the most successful franchise with 24 Stanley Cup championships ( 23 as an NHL team , 1 as an NHA team ) ; in the four major professional sports leagues the Montreal Canadiens are only surpassed in the number of championships by the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball , who have four more . The next most successful franchise is the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13 Stanley Cup championships , but they have not won one since 1967 . The Detroit Red Wings , with 11 Stanley Cup championships , are the most successful American franchise . The longest streak of winning the Stanley Cup in consecutive years is five , held by the Montreal Canadiens from 1955 – 56 to 1959 – 60 ; the New York Islanders ( 1980 – 1983 ) and the Montreal Canadiens ( 1976 – 1979 ) have four - year championship streaks . The 1977 edition of the Montreal Canadiens , the second of four straight Stanley Cup champions , was named by ESPN as the second greatest sports team of all - time . Of all the major leagues in North America , the NHL is the only league to field teams that play in two countries ' capital cities , Ottawa , Ontario and Washington , D . C . The current league organization divides the teams into two conferences . Each conference has three divisions , and each division has five teams . The current organization has roots in the 1998 – 99 season when a league realignment added two divisions to bring the total number of divisions to six ; the current team alignment began with the 2000 – 2001 season when the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the league as expansion teams . The Detroit Red Wings and the Columbus Blue Jackets are the only teams in the Western Conference that are located in the eastern time zone . This results in significantly increased travel time for both teams . Defunct Teams . The New York Americans , in their final season were renamed the " Brooklyn Americans , " in order to try and attract fans from Brooklyn . They continued to play in Madison Square Garden due to lack of a good sized playing facility in Brooklyn . Except for Hamilton , the league did eventually return to cities that were abandoned . Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , and St . Louis gained teams in the 1967 NHL expansion , Quebec City returned though the NHL – WHA merger ( though lost it again when the team moved to Denver in 1995 ) , and Ottawa via expansion in 1992 . New York City , after losing the Americans , has since added two more teams in the metro area : the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils . The closest Hamilton has come to receiving a team is the Buffalo Sabres , who play less than 50 miles east in Buffalo , New York ; the presence of the Sabres has , so far , blocked efforts ( most notably those by Jim Balsillie ) to relocate a team to Hamilton . Though Montreal also lost the Wanderers , the city still had the Canadiens and thus did not totally lose NHL representation .