as i recall the classic teams were in a league that operated like a country club they nearly got caught napping but they headed off the second major league threat by expanding which of course brought in a bunch of money to the old guard from the entrance fees also they aligned the new teams in a separate division which essentially made the stanley cup finals an exhibition series for the winners of the classic playoff rounds further evolution of the league evened out a lot of that stuff of course but there's some intrigue connected with their initial expansion i noticed there were many references to norris house league in google so it's not like this is unknown maybe the comment could be written better and or with more detail but it's an important part of the nature of the nhl as it existed during that time period what's up doc