History of the National Hockey League The National Hockey League ( NHL ) professional sports organization has been composed of hockey teams in Canada and the United States from its founding in 1917 to the present day . Frank Calder Era : Founding to " The Original Six " . The National Hockey League was founded in 1917 in Montreal after a series of disputes within the ( Canadian ) National Hockey Association ( NHA ) , which would see the NHA suspend operations and the new NHL start play . The primary conflict involved Toronto Blueshirts ' owner Eddie Livingstone . An ongoing source of controversy among fellow NHA owners , he was often accused of exploiting loopholes in league regulations to create what some viewed as unfair advantages , and had particularly incited the wrath of owners when he merged his two Toronto teams ( the Ontarios and the Blueshirts ) after the latter had been deprived of its top players . Livingstone sometimes offered contracts to other teams ' members " not " to play hockey , and once campaigned to kick the Montreal Wanderers out of the league after the team tried to lure two of his top Blueshirts players . Throughout his battles with owners , Livingstone repeatedly threatened to start a rival league in the United States . In its final season ( 1916 - 17 ) , the National Hockey Association was comprised of six teams : The Montreal Canadiens , Montreal Wanderers , Ottawa Senators , Quebec Bulldogs , Toronto Blueshirts , and an army team from the Toronto - based 228th Battalion . The team owners met in the Windsor Hotel in Montreal to consider the league ' s future on February 11 , 1917 , a day after members of the 228th Battalion , the most popular NHA team , were called into World War I action . Livingstone , unable to attend the meeting because of illness , was shocked to learn that owners had all agreed to withdraw from the NHA , to effectively ejecting Livingstone and the Blueshirts . After the resignation of NHA president and Livingstone ally Frank Robinson , Livingstone stopped attending league meetings and sent a lawyer to represent his interests . On November 9 , 1917 , it was reported that the Toronto NHA franchise was sold to Charles Querrie of the Toronto Arena corporation . At this point , NHA president Robertson and secretary Calder denied that the NHA would change , dissolve or adopt other subterfuge . This ' sale ' never completed and must be considered a ruse . The November 10 , 1917 annual meeting of the NHA was presided over by Mr . Calder and was adjourned without any public statement . At this time , the Quebec club had not committed to play the season , and had been given deadlines to commit . On November 17 , 1917 , it was announced that Quebec had dropped out , but that NHA league play would continue . This would mean that the NHA would be reduced to three teams , an undesirable number for scheduling purposes , if Toronto would not be allowed to continue , and the other owners did not want to continue with Livingstone as an owner . On November 26 , 1917 , representatives of the NHA clubs met at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal . The decision was made to start a new league , the NHL : Thus Livingstone was frozen out . This tactic of forming new leagues to resolve conflicts was not new . The NHA ' s oldest clubs , the Bulldogs and Senators , had seen the AHAC , CAHL , FAHL , ECAHA and CHA leagues shut down since organized league play began in 1886 . The Toronto ' temporary ' franchise . " See Toronto Arenas " A Toronto franchise was to be operated ' temporarily ' by the Toronto Arena Company while the Toronto ownership situation was resolved . The franchise used the players of the Blueshirts , including those who had been transferred to other NHA teams for the second half of the 1916 - 17 NHA season . This was done without the permission of Mr . Livingstone , who would sue for the team ' s revenues . According to George Kennedy , owner of the Canadiens : " The Toronto players belong as a body to the National Hockey League , for they were only loaned to the Toronto Arena Company , though Livingstone tried to make the Arena Company believe that he controlled those players " The Toronto club played without a nickname for the first season . The Toronto Arena Hockey Club was formed before the next season to operate the temporary franchise . A ' permanent ' franchise was granted with the forming of the Toronto St . Patricks in 1919 . Early Struggles . The league would start with four teams , the Canadiens , Senators , Toronto and Wanderers . The first game was played between the Wanderers and Torontos on December 19 , 1917 . The Wanderers won , their only victory in the NHL , when , on January 2 , 1918 , the Westmount Arena in Montreal , home to the Wanderers and Canadiens , was destroyed in a fire . The Wanderers , already a shadow of its former self , folded in the wake of the fire , ending one of the most storied franchises in the early years of Canadian professional hockey . With the Bulldogs and Wanderers out , the NHL operated with just three teams for the remainder of its opening year , and through the second season . Though Livingstone had been shut out , one of his NHA ideas — a proposal for a split regular season — was adopted by the new league and integrated into its playoff system . The Torontos became the first NHL winner of the Stanley Cup , the annual trophy awarded since 1893 to the Canadian hockey champion . A furious Livingstone , meanwhile , failed in his attempt to collect a share of profits from the Arena Company , then sued the Company and the NHL . The dispute lingered on through the 1920s , although a new permanent franchise was sold for Toronto , called the Toronto St . Patricks and ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs . History has looked back on Livingstone and the NHL ' s formation with a sense of irony : The man whom league owners had worked so hard to exclude was , in the words of Canadiens owner George Kennedy , the same figure that " made [ the NHL ] a real league " . Quebec to Hamilton to New York . The Quebec Bulldogs would enter play in the NHL in 1919 - 20 for one season , bringing the number of teams to four . They would only play the one season in Quebec , before moving to Hamilton , Ontario for the 1920 - 21 season . This transfer was done to counter a possible rival league setting up in Hamilton . The team was renamed the Tigers . At the conclusion of the 1924 - 25 , the Hamilton team had finished first . The team ' s players went on strike for more pay , and the team was suspended . Montreal and Toronto would play for the championship instead . The next year , the New York Americans would start play and the Hamilton franchise cancelled . Players of the Tigers were allocated to the Americans , although to be reinstated , they would have to pay a $ 200 fine apiece . Stanley Cup Success . Though the league struggled to stay in business during its first decade , NHL teams were quite successful on the ice , winning seven of the eight Stanley Cups awarded during its first nine years . ( The 1918 - 19 competition was cancelled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic that had hit Seattle ) . By 1926 , having increased player salaries to a level that couldn ' t be matched by other Canadian leagues , the NHL was alone in Stanley Cup competition . Expansion into United States . The league expanded into the United States , with the Boston Bruins in 1924 ; the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 and the New York Rangers , Detroit Cougars ( later to become the Red Wings ) , and Chicago Blackhawks in 1926 . In Canada , the league added the Montreal Maroons . Formation of the Minor League system . When the WHL finally finished in 1926 , and its players dispersed to the NHL , other leagues looked to claim " major - league " status , including the American Hockey Association ( AHA ) , forerunner to today ' s American Hockey League . Most notably , direct competition occurred in Chicago , between the Blackhawks and the Chicago Cardinals . In 1926 , the AHA formally filed a Stanley Cup challenge with the Stanley Cup trustees . The trustees ordered the NHL to play the AHL champions , but the NHL , under the direct order of Frank Calder , ignored the order . This would happen again in 1931 , when the successor of the AHA , the American Hockey League AHL of the time , would file another challenge , to again be ignored . The NHL would react to both situations by ' blacklisting ' the AHL and its players , and trying to freeze it out of common arenas . During this time , the NHL helped to form the Can - Am Pro League and the International Hockey League , signed up as partners with the NHL , subject to the NHL being allowed to draft their players . This system was expanded to the AHL , when the AHL could not compete with the NHL . The AHL eventually would make peace with the NHL , as both leagues struggled in the 1930s . The AHL would revert to its previous name , the AHA , renounce its major league status , and not compete with the NHL or the other minor leagues . After peace was made in 1932 , the top team of the AHA was transferred to Detroit to become the NHL ' s Red Wings in 1932 . None of the other AHA / AHL teams or players made it to the NHL . The AHA would cease to be a competitor when it would shut down during World War Two . The Great Depression Hits : Contraction . By the end of the 1930 - 31 season , the NHL featured a total of 10 teams . However , the Great Depression took a toll on the league ; teams folded , went bankrupt or were sold by owners unable to keep up with costs . The Detroit Cougars , renamed the Falcons , would file for bankruptcy in 1931 before being bought by James E . Norris , who would use the players of the Chicago Shamrocks of the AHL . This solved two problems : it took the top competitor out of Chicago , and brought Mr . Norris into the NHL to guarantee the long - term security of Detroit . As Mr . Norris was an AHL owner and competitor , it was a controversial move . Support for the move came from Toronto , where Conn Smythe saw Detroit as a natural competitive draw for the Maple Leafs . The Montreal Maroons would suspend play after the 1937 - 38 season . The franchise remained active , though it was never re - activated . It was finally terminated permanently in 1946 . The New York Americans played in New York until 1942 , when they suspended due to the war . The NHL franchise continued in suspension until 1946 when the NHL finally disallowed it to restart and terminated the franchise . The Ottawa Senators would try playing home games in other cities , suspending operations for a season , and finally relocating to St . Louis to operate as the Eagles . The Eagles would play for only one season before being bought out by the league . The NHL would return to St . Louis in 1967 in the initial wave of expansion . The Pittsburgh Pirates would play from 1925 until 1930 , then operate for the 1930 - 31 season as the Philadelphia Quakers before folding . The NHL would return to the cities of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in 1967 also . The Norris House League . The entry of Mr . Norris in 1932 as owner of Detroit Red Wings started the era where Mr . Norris would dominate the ownership of the National Hockey League . The NHL prohibited the ownership by an individual in more than one team . However , the NHL did allow corporations to own teams . Mr . Norris owned the Chicago Black Hawks through a corporation , and a partnership with Arthur Wirtz . Mr . Norris was a major share - holder in New York Rangers ' owner Madison Square Garden Corporation . Mr . Norris also underwrote mortgages of the Boston Bruins ' owner Charles Adams . During the period of his ownership of the Rangers and Black Hawks , neither developed a farm system and neither had much on - ice success . Death of Frank Calder . At the NHL general meeting of January 25 , 1943 held in Toronto , Mr . Calder suffered a heart attack . He would survive and go home to Montreal to convalesce in Montreal General Hospital . However , he would not leave the hospital and died on February 3 , 1943 . Red Dutton would take over as NHL president . ' Original Six ' Era : 1942 - 1967 . With these developments and the onset of World War II , the NHL was reduced to six teams during its 25th anniversary year of ( 1942 ) – six teams still known today , if inaccurately , as the " Original Six " : The Canadiens , Maple Leafs , Red Wings , Bruins , Rangers , and Black Hawks . World War II had provided many players their first chance to play professional hockey , but after the war , many found themselves relegated to minor leagues . During the Original Six period , Montreal and Toronto were the dominant teams , with Montreal winning 10 Cups , Toronto 9 , Detroit 5 , and Chicago once . Toronto had a dynasty in the late 1940s and the 1960s , while Montreal would dominate the 1950s along with Detroit . Boston , Chicago and New York were the ' other ' teams of Mr . Norris ' conglomerate and efforts were not made to improve their competitiveness as was done with Detroit . Mr . Dutton gave up the job of NHL president in 1946 , and Clarence Campbell was elected . He had been assistant to Mr . Calder prior to enlisting for World War Two . Mr Campbell ' s role as president , unlike Mr . Calder , was to follow the orders of the owners . In a famous quote from Maple Leafs ' owner Stafford Smythe , commenting on a complaint over a disciplinary decision , said " Where would we find another Rhodes scholar , graduate lawyer , decorated war hero , and former prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials , who will do what he ' s told ? " NHL Takes Over the Stanley Cup . In 1948 , original Stanley Cup trustee P . D . Ross , and Cooper Smeaton made an agreement with the NHL to take over possession of the Stanley Cup . While there are still trustees of the Cup today , the NHL provides for its maintenance , and its use is governed by the NHL exclusively . After the lockout of 2005 , a Canadian court found the agreement of 1948 broke Lord Stanley ' s intentions . In an out - of - court settlement , the NHL has promised to allow other teams to play for the Cup if it will not use it . Richard Riot . In 1955 , NHL president Clarence Campbell would suspend Montreal Canadiens star Rocket Richard for the playoffs . After announcing the suspension , Mr . Campbell attended the night ' s game at the Montreal Forum , where he was accosted and the scene became a riot , spilling over to downtown Montreal . First Player ' s Association . Player ' s conditions were difficult in the 1950s . While arena owners showed large profits , players shared little in the revenues . The average salary in 1957 was $ 8000 , compared to the average of $ 5500 for teachers . Players had to pay $ 900 yearly for their pension , which was controlled by the NHL and its finances kept secret . This would lead to legal action decades later by retired players . Players were banned during the off - season from playing other sports like they had in the early years of hockey . Players were required to take part in off - season promotion without pay . Player ' s medical coverage expired two months after injury and left players to pay their own medical expenses during the off - season . In 1957 , a star player of the Detroit Red Wings , Ted Lindsay , would attempt to form the National Hockey League Players Association ( NHLPA ) . Jack Adams , general manager of the Red Wings , would be prominent in breaking the attempted union . Mr . Lindsay ' s attempt was unsuccessful , and he was traded to the perennial last - place team , the Chicago Black Hawks , before retiring in 1960 . The players ' conditions did not improve , and on the second attempt , the NHLPA would be founded in 1967 and be led for many years by Alan Eagleson , a Toronto lawyer . Expansion : 1967 - 2000 . 1960s : Coast - to - Coast Expansion . By the 1960s , other pro leagues were fielding teams that were arguably competitive with the NHL ' s teams . The rise of the Western Hockey League , which was rumoured to be planning to transform into a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup , spurred the NHL in 1967 to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s . Six new teams were added to the NHL roster , and placed in their own newly - created division . They were the Philadelphia Flyers , St . Louis Blues , Minnesota North Stars , Los Angeles Kings , Oakland Seals , and Pittsburgh Penguins . Each club paid the league $ 2 million to join . The six new franchises were placed in a separate division , the West Division . The winner of the East would play the West . This format led to anti - climactic Stanley Cup Finals as the West Division teams were no match for the Original Six clubs . Three years later , the NHL added the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres as franchises . Vancouver had applied for the initial round of expansion , but were turned down . Expansion fees had increased and were now $ 6 million . 1970s : NHL vs . WHA competition . In 1972 , the World Hockey Association ( WHA ) was formed . Though the NHL refused its challenge for the Stanley Cup , its status as a viable NHL rival was unquestionable . In response , the NHL accelerated its own expansion plans by adding the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames that year to block WHA franchises from newly constructed arenas in those markets , along with the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals two years later . The dilution of the talent pool , however , caused the overall quality of play to suffer . That , along with continued financial instability that resulted in the relocation of two franchises for the 1976 - 77 season , caused a planned expansion for 1976 to Denver and Seattle to be cancelled . The two leagues fought for the services of players until a merger was agreed to following the 1978 - 79 season . The WHA folded , and four of the its remaining six teams joined the NHL as expansion teams : The Hartford Whalers , Quebec Nordiques , Edmonton Oilers , and Winnipeg Jets . As of 2006 , the Oilers were the last of the WHA teams still playing in the city where they began : the Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995 , the Jets moved to Phoenix as the Coyotes a year later , and the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997 . On the ice , the decade was dominated by the Canadiens , who won the Cup six times . Boston would win twice in 1970 and 1972 , its first wins in 30 years . The Philadelphia Flyers would be the first of the teams from the 1967 expansion to win the Cup , winning in 1974 and 1975 . Mr . Campbell would retire as NHL president in 1977 , to be succeeded by John Ziegler . 1980s : Two Dynasties . The 1980s were dominated by two teams , the New York Islanders and the Edmonton Oilers . The Islanders would win the first four Cups of the decade , the Oilers would win four , leaving one each for Montreal and Calgary . The decade was dominated by offense , as exemplified by the offense - first play of Edmonton , boasting Wayne Gretzky and the goal - scoring prowess of Mike Bossy for the Islanders . 1990s : Expansion to 30 teams . In the late 1980s , the NHL would adopt a plan to expand . The NHL invited in proposals in 1989 , for teams to start play in 1992 . In December 1989 , they announced the terms of the expansion , including $ 50 million expansion fees , the highest in league history , and higher than the $ 32 million expansion fees of the NBA , and invited applications to start in May 1990 . While this process was in place , the Minnesota North Stars club was in financial trouble . The owners of the North Stars , the Gund family , wanted to move the franchise to the San Francisco / Oakland area where they were based , but the area was a potential expansion site . This eventually lead to a complicated transaction where the Gunds would become the owners of the new expansion San Jose Sharks , to start play in 1991 , with some of the the North Stars ' players and draft picks in the entry draft , and the two teams would participate in the 1991 expansion draft . The Gunds would pay $ 19 million of the expansion fee , and $ 31 million would be paid by the new North Stars owners . The new owners would operate the North Stars until 1993 when they would relocate the franchise to Dallas , Texas where it became the Dallas Stars . In December 1990 , the governors approved the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin play in 1992 - 93 . In Tampa , the league moved into the strategic area of the south - eastern United States , an important TV market . In Ottawa , the league returned after a 57 years ' absence to what was expected to be a good hockey market , and the Senators were expected to add some marquee value , being Canada ' s capital . This expansion , while lucrative as each team paid $ 50 million to join , did not satisfy the NHL owners ' plan . Following the process produced only two satisfactory groups and the NHL was not gaining enough good TV markets in the States . A decision was made , and followed up by new president Gil Stein to identify key markets and place teams in those locations , with local ownership , instead of inviting expansion applications . In 1993 , as part of this strategy , the NHL added an additional two teams , the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers . In a bit of controversy , these teams were added following a courting of Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner and Blockbuster Video owner Wayne Huizenga by Gary Bettman , the new Commissioner of the NHL and Gil Stein . Special arrangements were made to compensate the Los Angeles Kings for the Anaheim expansion within its area ; half of the $ 50 million expansion fee went to the Kings . Soon after Mr . Bettman took office , the NHL ' s traditional conferences and divisions were renamed to reflect geography ( like the NBA ) rather than the league ' s history ( i . e . , the Wales and Campbell Conferences , and the Adams , Patrick , Norris , and Smythe Divisions ) . In addition , the league adopted a two - referee system ; goal lines , blue lines , and defensive - zone circles were moved , and the playoff format was altered so that teams were now bracketed and seeded by conference ( also like the NBA ) , as opposed to the previous bracketing and seeding by division . In 1993 - 1994 , the NHL entered its greatest period of growth and landed a 5 - year contract with FOX / ESPN . The expansions were due in part to Wayne Gretzky ' s popularity , and Mr . Bettman capitalized on it by reaching out to a broadcast partner which would give the NHL national exposure . This differed significantly from Mr . Bettman ' s predecessor , John Ziegler , who saw little future in national television , instead having each team rely on regional coverage . Some even predicted that the NHL could overtake Major League Baseball in popularity ( which suffered greatly from a strike during that time ) . In 1998 , with the league having reached an agreement with the IOC , NHL players were finally able to compete in the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano , Japan . This marked the first time that all NHL players were able to compete in the Olympics . To serve as a tie - in to the Olympics , the All - Star Game altered the format to become a match - up of players from North America against players from everywhere else in the world ( effectively Europe ) . This format was abandoned in 2003 when the All - Star Game returned to the traditional conference vs . conference format . On June 25 , 1997 , the NHL officially approved expansion to 30 teams by the year 2000 . This added another four teams ; the Nashville Predators ( 1998 ) , Atlanta Thrashers ( 1999 ) , Minnesota Wild , and Columbus Blue Jackets ( both added in 2000 ) . Atlanta and Minnesota both marked a return to areas where clubs had relocated . The Atlanta Flames had relocated to Calgary , and the Minnesota North Stars had relocated to Dallas . Minneapolis - St . Paul was historically a hotbed of hockey interest and the NHL had promised to return after the Stars had relocated , though the franchises are unrelated . While the NHL has more teams in the United States than in Canada , teams ' rosters are still dominated by Canadians , with over half of NHL players on the 2005 - 06 roster , having been born in Canada , though in the 1970s Canadians had accounted for roughly 95 % of all NHL players . 2000s : Finances and Labour Dominate . The new millennia brought economic issues to the fore . Several economic factors brought a squeeze on revenues to member clubs . Ottawa and Buffalo would go bankrupt , and most clubs lost money on a yearly basis . Canadian clubs felt squeezed by the low Canadian dollar . The NHL TV revenues declined . On top of this , the NHL ' s agreement with its players was due to be renegotiated . This led to the lockout of the 2004 - 2005 season . Labour issues . There have been three work stoppages in NHL history , all happening between 1992 and 2005 . The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days , but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled . A lockout at the start of the 1994 - 95 forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48 , with the teams playing only intra - conference games during the reduced season . The resulting collective bargaining agreement was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15 , 2004 . Negotiations to replace the contract that expired in 2004 turned into one of the most contentious collective bargaining sessions in the history of professional sports . The league vowed to install what it dubbed " cost certainty " for its teams , but the National Hockey League Players Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap , which the union initially said it would not accept . With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15 , 2004 , league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office , causing the NHL to lose an entire season . A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term , allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005 - 06 season . Post 2005 lockout . On the ice , the New Jersey style of play was considered to be a major factor in declining interest . The league , to relaunch itself after the lockout , made several changes to limit defensive play , and also limit goaltender equipment in size . The league also adopted an unbalanced schedule , where inter - conference play was decreased , to reduce expenses and travel . On October 5 , 2005 , the first post - lockout NHL season got under way with 15 games . This was the first time in league history that all teams played on the same day . Of those 15 games , 11 were in front of sell out crowds . In the 2005 - 06 season , the NHL as a whole saw its attendance rise from the totals of 2004 , as most teams were able to retain the majority of season ticket holders . In particular , the Pittsburgh Penguins , Carolina Hurricanes , and Buffalo Sabres all saw large gains . However , the Chicago Blackhawks , New York Islanders , St . Louis Blues , and Washington Capitals all had flat attendance . But other teams had either rises or a depletion in attendance from the previous NHL season . Today ' s Challenges . The NHL is broadcast nationally on weekends , and has partial coverage of the playoffs nationally . In Canada , the television audiences are still strong , with a nationally televised games on weekends all season long . On the ice , the rule changes lead to increased scoring for the 2005 - 2006 season , but a small decline occurred for 2006 - 2007 season . A permanent competition committee now exists , composed of management and players to oversee play .