National Hockey League

The **National Hockey League** (also known as the **NHL**) is a major league hockey league. It is divided into the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Its championship is called the Stanley Cup Finals.

## History

### The early years

The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association (**NHA**).

Founded in 1909, the NHA began play one year later with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec, and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey, but by the NHA's eighth season, a series of disputes with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone led the other team owners, representing the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators & Quebec Bulldogs to meet about the league's future.

Realizing the NHA constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out, the four teams voted instead to suspend the NHA and on November 26, 1917, they formed the National Hockey League. Frank Calder was chosen as its first president, serving until his death in 1943.

The Bulldogs were unable to play, and the remaining owners created a new team in Toronto, the Arenas, to compete with the Canadiens, Wanderers and Senators.

The first games were played on December 19, 1917. The Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918, causing the Wanderers to cease operations and the NHL continued on as a three-team league until the Bulldogs returned in 1919.

The NHL replaced the NHA as one of the leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, which was an interleague competition back then. Toronto won the first NHL title, and then defeated the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) for the 1918 Stanley Cup.

The Canadiens won the league title in 1919; however their Stanley Cup Final against the PCHA's Seattle Metropolitans was abandoned as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic.

In 1924, Montreal won their first Stanley Cup as a member of the NHL. The Hamilton Tigers won the regular season title in the 1924–25 season, but they refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a C$200 bonus.

The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after they defeated the Toronto St. Patricks (formerly the Arenas) in the semi-final. Montreal was then defeated by the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) for the 1925 Stanley Cup.

It was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy as the Stanley Cup became the de facto NHL championship in 1926 after the WCHL ceased operation.

The NHL embarked on rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons and Boston Bruins in 1924.

The Bruins were the first American team in the league. The New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, and were joined by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The New York Rangers were added in 1926.

The Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars (later Red Wings) were also added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL.

A group purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927 and immediately renamed them the Maple Leafs.

### The Original Six

The first NHL All-Star Game was held in 1934 to benefit Ace Bailey, whose career ended on a vicious hit by Eddie Shore.

The second was held in 1937 in support of Howie Morenz's family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game.

The Great Depression and the onset of World War II took a toll on the league.

The Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930, then folded one year later. The Senators likewise became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, also lasting only one year.

The Maroons did not survive, as they suspended operations in 1938. The Americans were suspended in 1942 due to a lack of players and were never revived.

The league was reduced to six teams for the 1942–43 NHL season: the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. These six teams remained constant for 25 years, a period known as the Original Six.

The league reached an agreement with the Stanley Cup trustees in 1947 to take full control of the trophy, allowing the NHL to reject challenges from other leagues that wished to play for the Cup.

Maurice "Rocket" Richard became the first player to score 50 goals, doing so in a 50-game season. He later led the Canadiens to five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960, a record no team has matched.

Willie O'Ree broke the league's colour barrier on January 18, 1958 when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins and became the first black player in league history.

### Post-Original Six expansion

By the mid-1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the U.S., and concerns that the Western Hockey League was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the league to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s.

The league doubled in size for the 1967–68 season, adding the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, California Seals and St. Louis Blues.

Canadian fans were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States and the league responded by adding the Vancouver Canucks in 1970 along with the Buffalo Sabres, who are located on the Canada–US border.

Two years later, the emergence of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) led the league to add the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames to keep the rival league out of those markets.

In 1974, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added, bringing the league up to 18 teams.

The NHL fought the WHA for players, losing 67 to the new league in its first season of 1972–73 (including Bobby Hull, who signed a ten-year, $2.5 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets, the largest in hockey history at the time).

The league attempted to block the defections in court, but a counter-suit by the WHA led to a Philadelphia judge ruling the NHL's reserve clause to be illegal, thus eliminating the elder league's monopoly over the players.

Seven years of battling for players and markets financially damaged both leagues, leading to a 1979 merger agreement that saw the WHA cease operations while the NHL absorbed the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques.

The owners initially rejected this merger agreement by one vote, but a massive boycott of Molson Brewery products by fans in Canada caused the Montreal Canadiens, which was owned by Molson, to reverse its position, along with the Vancouver Canucks. In a second vote the plan was approved.

Wayne Gretzky played one season in the WHA for the Indianapolis Racers (eight games) and the Edmonton Oilers (72 games) before the Oilers joined the National Hockey League for the 1979–80 season.

Gretzky went on to lead the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988, and set single season records for goals (92 in 1981–82), assists (163 in 1985–86) and points (215 in 1985–86), as well as career records for goals (894), assists (1,963) and points (2,857).

Gretzky was traded to the Kings in 1988 (a deal that dramatically improved the league's popularity in the United States) and provided the impetus for the 1990s expansion cycles that saw the addition of nine teams: the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers (now Winnipeg Jets) and in 2000, the Minnesota Wild & Columbus Blue Jackets.

On July 21, 2015, the NHL confirmed that it had received applications from prospective ownership groups in Quebec City and Las Vegas for possible expansion teams.

On June 22, 2016, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the addition of a 31st franchise, based in Las Vegas and later named the Vegas Golden Knights, into the NHL for the 2017–18 season.

## Game

Each NHL regulation game is 60 minutes long and it is composed of three 20-minute periods with an intermission between periods.

At the end of regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues.

During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, three-on-three sudden-death period, in which whoever scores a goal first will win the game.

If the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout. Three players for each team in turn take a penalty shot.

The team with the most goals during the three-round shootout wins the game. If the game is still tied after the three shootout rounds, the shootout continues, but it becomes sudden-death.

Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. The losing team in overtime or shootout is awarded only one.

Shootout goals and saves are not tracked in hockey statistics; shootout statistics are tracked separately.

There are no shootouts during the playoffs. Instead, multiple sudden-death, 20-minute five-on-five periods are played until one team scores. Two games have reached six overtime periods, but none have gone beyond six.

During playoff overtime periods, the only break is to clean the loose ice at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished.

## Hockey Rink

NHL games are played on a rectangular hockey rink with rounded corners surrounded by walls and Plexiglas. It measures 200 feet (60.96 m) by 85 feet (25.91 m) in the NHL, approximately the same length but much narrower than International Ice Hockey Federation standards.

The centre line divides the ice in half and is used to judge icing violations. There are two blue lines that divide the rink roughly into thirds, delineating one neutral and two attacking zones.

Near the end of both ends of the rink, there is a thin red goal line spanning the width of the ice, which is used to judge goals and icing calls.

A trapezoidal area behind each goal net has been introduced.

The goaltender can play the puck only within the trapezoid or in front of the goal line; if the goaltender plays the puck behind the goal line and outside the trapezoidal area, a two-minute minor penalty for delay of game is assessed. The rule is unofficially nicknamed the "Martin Brodeur rule."

Since the 2013–14 season, the league trimmed the goal frames by 4 inches (10 cm) on each side and reduced the size of the goalies' leg pads.

## Rules

The NHL's rules are one of the two standard sets of professional ice hockey rules in the world. The rules themselves have evolved directly from the first organized indoor ice hockey game in Montreal in 1875, updated by subsequent leagues up to 1917, when the NHL adopted the existing NHA set of rules.

The NHL's rules are the basis for rules governing most professional and major junior ice hockey leagues in North America.

Infractions of the rules, such as offside and icing, lead to a stoppage of play and subsequent face-offs, while more serious infractions leading to penalties to the offending teams. The league also determines the specifications for playing equipment used in its games.

The league has regularly modified its rules to counter perceived imperfections in the game. The penalty shot was adopted from the Pacific Coast Hockey Association to ensure players were not being blocked from opportunities to score.

For the 2005–06 season, the league changed some of the rules regarding being offside.

First, the league removed the "offside pass" or "two-line pass" rule, which required a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the centre line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player.

Furthermore, the league reinstated the "tag-up offside" which allows an attacking player a chance to get back onside by returning to the neutral zone.

The changes to the offside rule were among several rule changes intended to increase overall scoring which had been in decline since the expansion years of the mid-nineties and the increased prevalence of the neutral zone trap.

Since 2005, when a team is guilty of icing the puck they are not allowed to make a line change or skater substitution of any sort before the following face-off (except to replace an injured player or re-install a pulled goaltender).

Since 2013, the league has used hybrid icing, where a linesman stops play due to icing if a defending player (other than the goaltender) crosses the imaginary line that connects the two face-off dots in their defensive zone before an attacking player is able to. This was done to counter a trend of player injury in races to the puck.

The league's rules differ from the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), as used in tournaments such as the Olympics, which were themselves derived from the Canadian amateur ice hockey rules of the early 20th century.

In the NHL, fighting leads to major penalties while IIHF rules and most amateur rules, call for the ejection of fighting players.

Usually a penalized team cannot replace a player that is penalized on the ice and is thus short-handed for the duration of the penalty, but if the penalties are coincidental, for example when two players fight, both teams remain at full strength.

Also, unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play.

The NHL and IIHF differ also in playing rules, such as icing, the areas of play for goaltenders, helmet rules, officiating rules, timeouts and play reviews.

The league also imposes a conduct policy on its players. Players are banned from gambling and criminal activities have led to the suspension of players.

The league and the Players' Association agreed to a stringent anti-doping policy in the 2005 bargaining agreement. The policy provides for a 20-game suspension for a first positive test, a 60-game suspension for a second positive test and a lifetime suspension for a third positive test.

## Season Structure

The NHL season is divided into a regular season (from early October through early to mid April) and a postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs).

During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. In the regular season, each team plays 82 games: 41 games each of home and road.

Eastern teams play 28 games in their own geographic division—four against each of their seven other divisional opponents—and 24 games against the eight remaining non-divisional intra-conference opponents—three games against every team in the other division of its conference.

Western teams play 26 or 29 games in their own geographic division—four or five against each of their six or seven other divisional opponents—and 21 or 24 games against the six or seven remaining non-divisional intra-conference opponents—three games against every team in the other division of its conference, with one cross-division intra-conference matchup occurring in four games.

All teams play every team in the other conference twice—home and road.

The league's regular season standings are based on a point system. Two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout and zero points for a loss in regulation.

At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion, and the league's overall leader is awarded the Presidents' Trophy.

The Stanley Cup playoffs, which go from April to the beginning of June, is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round.

The final remaining team is crowned the Stanley Cup champion. Eight teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs: the top three teams in each division plus the two conference teams with the next highest number of points.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are an elimination tournament where the teams are grouped in pairs to play best-of-seven series and the winners moving on to the next round. The two conference champions proceed to the Stanley Cup Final.

In all rounds, the higher-ranked team is awarded home-ice advantage, with four of the seven games played at this team's home venue.

In the Stanley Cup Final, the team with the most points during the regular season has home-ice advantage.

## NHL Entry Draft

The annual NHL Entry Draft consists of a seven-round off-season draft held in late June. Early NHL drafts took place at the Queen Elizabeth (currently Fairmont) Hotel in Montreal.

Amateur players from junior, collegiate, or European leagues are eligible to enter the Entry Draft.

The selection order is determined by a combination of the standings at the end of the regular season, playoff results and a draft lottery. The 15 teams that did not qualify for the playoffs are entered in a weighted lottery to determine the initial draft picks in the first round, with the last place team having the best chance of winning the lottery.

Once the lottery determines the initial draft picks, the order for the remaining non-playoff teams is determined by the standings at the end of the regular season.

For those teams that did qualify for the playoffs, the draft order is then determined by total regular season points for non-division winners that are eliminated in the first two rounds of the playoffs, then any division winners that failed to reach the Conference Finals.

Conference finalists receive the 28th and 29th picks depending on total points, with the Stanley Cup runner-up given the 30th pick and the Stanley Cup champions the 31st pick.

## Trophies and awards

### Teams

The most prestigious team award is the Stanley Cup, which is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The team that has the most points in the regular season is awarded the Presidents' Trophy.

The Montreal Canadiens are the most successful franchise in the league. Since the formation of the league in 1917, they have 25 NHL championships (three between 1917 and 1925 when the Stanley Cup was still contested in an interleague competition, twenty-two since 1926 after the Stanley Cup became the NHL's championship trophy).

They also lead all teams with 24 Stanley Cup championships (one as an NHA team, twenty-three as an NHL team). Of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, the Montreal Canadiens are surpassed in the number of championships only by the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, who have three more.

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 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. However, Montreal has not won a Stanley Cup since 1993.

The next most successful NHL franchise is the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13 Stanley Cup championships, most recently in 1967.

The Detroit Red Wings, with 11 Stanley Cup championships, are the most successful American franchise.

The same trophy is reused every year for each of its awards. The Stanley Cup, much like its CFL counterpart, is unique in this aspect as opposed to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Larry O'Brien Trophy and Commissioner's Trophy which have new ones made every year for that year's champion.

Despite only one trophy being used, the names of the teams winning and the players are engraved every year on the Stanley Cup. The same can also be said for the other trophies reissued every year.

### Players

There are numerous trophies that are awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; they include, among others, the Art Ross Trophy for the league scoring champion (goals and assists), the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for the goal-scoring leader, and the William M. Jennings Trophy for the goaltender(s) for the team with the fewest goals against them.

The other player trophies are voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association or the team general managers.

These individual awards are presented at a formal ceremony held in late June after the playoffs have concluded.

The most prestigious individual award is the Hart Memorial Trophy which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player; the voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to judge the player who is the most valuable to his team during the regular season.

The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the person deemed the best goaltender as voted on by the general managers of the teams in the NHL.

The James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the NHL's top defenceman, the Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the top rookie and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player deemed to combine the highest degree of skill and sportsmanship; all three of these awards are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

In addition to the regular season awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league wins the Jack Adams Award as selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association.

The NHL publishes the names of the top three vote getters for all awards, and then names the award winner during the NHL Awards Ceremony.

Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Players cannot enter until three years have passed since their last professional game, the shortest such time period of any major sport.

One unique consequence has been Hall of Fame members (specifically, Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux) coming out of retirement to play once more.

If a player was deemed significant enough, the three-year wait would be waived; only ten individuals have been honoured in this manner.

In 1999, Wayne Gretzky joined the Hall and became the last player to have the three-year restriction waived. After his induction, the Hall of Fame announced that Gretzky would be the last to have the waiting period waived.

## Origin of Players

In addition to Canadian and American born and trained players, who have historically composed a large majority of NHL rosters, the NHL also draws players from an expanding pool of other nations where organized and professional hockey is played.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, political/ideological restrictions on the movement of hockey players from this region have disappeared, leading to a large influx of players mostly from Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia into the NHL.

Swedes, Finns, and other Western Europeans (who were always free to move to North America) came to the league in greater numbers than before.

Many of the league's top players in recent years have come from these European countries including Daniel Alfredsson, Erik Karlsson, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Lundqvist, Jaromir Jagr, Patrik Elias, Zdeno Chara, Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, Nicklas Lidstrom and Alexander Ovechkin.

European players were drafted and signed by NHL teams in an effort to bring in more "skilled offensive players" although recently, there has been a decline in European players as more American players enter the league.

The addition of European players changed the style of play in the NHL and European style hockey has been integrated into the NHL game.

As of the 2017–18 season, the NHL has players from 17 different countries, with 46.0% coming from Canada and 26.0% from the United States, players from a further 15 countries make up 26.4% of NHL rosters.

## Eastern Conference

**Atlantic**

* Boston Bruins
* Buffalo Sabres
* Detroit Red Wings
* Florida Panthers
* Montreal Canadiens
* Ottawa Senators
* Tampa Bay Lightning
* Toronto Maple Leafs

**Metropolitan**

* Carolina Hurricanes
* Columbus Blue Jackets
* New Jersey Devils
* New York Islanders
* New York Rangers
* Philadelphia Flyers
* Pittsburgh Penguins
* Washington Capitals

## Western Conference

**Central**

* Chicago Blackhawks
* Colorado Avalanche
* Dallas Stars
* Minnesota Wild
* Nashville Predators
* St. Louis Blues
* Winnipeg Jets

**Pacific**

* Anaheim Ducks
* Arizona Coyotes
* Calgary Flames
* Edmonton Oilers
* Los Angeles Kings
* San Jose Sharks
* Vancouver Canucks
* Vegas Golden Knights

## Former Teams

* Anaheim Mighty Ducks
* Atlanta Flames
* Atlanta Thrashers
* California Golden Seals
* Cleveland Barons
* Colorado Rockies
* Hartford Whalers
* Kansas City Scouts
* Minnesota North Stars
* Oakland Seals
* Phoenix Coyotes
* Quebec Nordiques
* Winnipeg Jets (original)