119-664: The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." The league's Coach of the Year award has been presented 48 times to 40 coaches. The winner is selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association at the end of the regular season. Five coaches have won the award twice, while Pat Burns has won three times,
238-837: A merger agreement in 1979 that saw the WHA cease operations while the NHL absorbed the Winnipeg Jets, the Edmonton Oilers , the Hartford Whalers , and the Quebec Nordiques . The owners initially rejected this merger agreement by one vote, but a massive boycott of Molson Brewery products by Canadian fans resulted in the Montreal Canadiens, which was owned by Molson, reversing its position, along with
357-631: A new team in Salt Lake City , Utah . Two months after Utah's foundation, the Coyotes ceased their efforts to re-activate within the five-year window granted to do so, bringing the NHL back to 32 franchises. There have been four league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all occurring after 1992 . The first was an April 1992 strike by the National Hockey League Players' Association , which lasted for ten days but
476-466: 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. Fighting in the NHL leads to major penalties while IIHF rules, and most amateur rules, call for
595-463: A bruised ankle, Team USA's Kendall Coyne Schofield competed in the Fastest Skater competition in his place, becoming the first woman to officially compete in the NHL's All-Star festivities. The attention led the NHL to include a 3-on-3 women's game before the 2020 All-Star Game . Rheaume returned to perform as a goaltender for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game 's Breakaway Challenge. From
714-525: A league that had never seen a 100-point scorer before the 1968–69 season , the Bruins had four that year. All four (Orr, Esposito, Bucyk and Hodge) were named First Team All-Stars. Boston were favored to repeat as Cup champions but lost to the Canadiens (and rookie goaltender Ken Dryden ) in seven games. While the Bruins were not quite as dominant the next season, Esposito and Orr were once again one-two in
833-484: A long and difficult reconstruction period in the early to mid-1960s. Weston Adams repurchased the Bruins in 1964 after Brown's death. Adams signed future superstar defenseman Bobby Orr , who entered the league in 1966 . Orr was that season's winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for Rookie of the Year and named to the second NHL All-Star Team. Despite Orr's stellar rookie season, the Bruins would miss
952-814: A loss to the Ottawa Senators in a make-up game following the Boston Marathon bombing on April 28 gave the Canadiens the division title. In the opening round of the 2013 playoffs , the Bruins took on the Toronto Maple Leafs, defeating them in seven games. They went on to beat the New York Rangers in five games and the Pittsburgh Penguins in a four-game sweep to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals and
1071-426: A major issue in the NHL, with concussions resulting from a hard hit to the head being the primary concern. Recent studies have shown how the consequences of concussions can last beyond player retirement. This has significant effects on the league, as elite players have suffered from the aftereffects of concussions (such as Sidney Crosby being sidelined for approximately ten and a half months), which adversely affects
1190-615: A player safety lawsuit. From 1952 to 1955, Marguerite Norris served as president of the Detroit Red Wings , being the first female NHL executive and the first woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup. In 1992, Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play a game in any of the major professional North American sports leagues, as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a preseason game against
1309-537: A preseason consisting of six to eight exhibition games . Split squad games, in which parts of a team's regular season roster play separate games on the same day, are occasionally played during the preseason. During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. Since 2021, in the regular season, all teams play 82 games: 41 games each of home and road, playing 26 games in their own geographic division—four against five of their seven other divisional opponents, plus three against two others; 24 games against
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#17327724116721428-408: A second positive test, and a lifetime suspension for a third positive test. 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 wins the game. If the game is still tied at the end of overtime,
1547-656: A single point. National Hockey League The National Hockey League ( NHL ); French : Ligue nationale de hockey [liɡ nɑsjɔnal də ɔkɛ] ( LNH ), is a professional ice hockey league in North America consisting of 32 teams – 25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The Stanley Cup , the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to
1666-399: Is awarded one point. 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
1785-683: Is to clean the loose ice at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished. The National Hockey League season is divided into a preseason (September and early October), a regular season (from early October through early to mid-April) and a postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs ). Teams usually hold a summer showcase for prospects in July and participate in prospect tournaments, full games that do not feature any veterans, in September. Full training camps begin in mid-to-late September, including
1904-686: The 1942–43 season , the NHL was reduced to six teams: the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, a line-up, often referred to as the " Original Six ", that would remain constant for the next 25 years. In 1947, the league reached an agreement with the Stanley Cup trustees to take full control of the trophy, allowing it to reject challenges from other leagues that wished to play for
2023-1034: The 1967–68 season , adding the Los Angeles Kings , the Minnesota North Stars , the Philadelphia Flyers , the Pittsburgh Penguins , the California Seals , and the St. Louis Blues . However, Canadian fans were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States, so the league responded by adding the Vancouver Canucks in 1970 , along with the Buffalo Sabres , both located on the Canada–United States border . Two years later,
2142-435: The 1974 Stanley Cup Finals in an upset to the Philadelphia Flyers . Don Cherry stepped behind the bench as the new coach in 1974–75 . The Bruins stocked themselves with enforcers and grinders, and remained competitive under Cherry's reign, the so-called "Lunch Pail A.C"., behind players such as Gregg Sheppard , Terry O'Reilly , Stan Jonathan and Peter McNab . This would also turn out to be Orr's final full season in
2261-484: The 1987–88 NHL season , the Bruins defeated their Original Six nemesis Montreal Canadiens in the playoffs. In 1991 and 1992 , the Bruins suffered two consecutive conference finals losses to the eventual Cup champion, the Pittsburgh Penguins . Starting from the 1992–93 NHL season onwards, the Bruins had not gotten past the second round of the playoffs until winning the Stanley Cup after the 2011 season . The 1992–93 season ended disappointingly. Despite finishing with
2380-664: The 2000–01 season , when the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the league as expansion teams, until 2017. That expansion capped a period in the 1990s of rapid expansion and relocation, when the NHL added nine teams to grow from 21 to 30 teams, and relocated four teams mostly from smaller, northern cities to larger, more southern metropolitan areas ( Minneapolis to Dallas , Quebec City to Denver , Winnipeg to Phoenix , and Hartford to Raleigh ). The league has not contracted any teams since
2499-456: The 2013 NHL Winter Classic and the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend . On January 6, a tentative agreement was reached on a 10-year deal. On January 12, the league and the Players' Association signed a memorandum of understanding on the new deal, allowing teams to begin their training camps the next day, with a shortened 48-game season schedule that began on January 19. Player safety has become
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#17327724116722618-746: The 2017–18 season to the 2019–20 season , the NHL consisted of 31 teams—24 based in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL divided the 31 teams into two conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference . Each conference was split into two divisions : the Eastern Conference contained 16 teams (eight per division), while the Western Conference had 15 teams (seven in the Central and eight in
2737-829: The Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League and the Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League , as part of the 2016 NHL Winter Classic weekend festivities. In 2019, the NHL invited four women from the US and Canadian Olympic teams to demonstrate the events in All-Star skills competition before the All-Star Game . Due to Nathan MacKinnon choosing not to participate following
2856-731: The Cleveland Barons were merged into the Minnesota North Stars in 1978. The league expanded for the first time in 17 years to 31 teams with the addition of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, then to 32 with the addition of the Seattle Kraken in 2021. In April 2024, a new expansion team in Utah was created, after Alex Meruelo sold the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes to Ryan Smith , owner of
2975-749: The Columbus Blue Jackets . Also, in the mid to late 1990s, the Quebec Nordiques, original Winnipeg Jets, and Hartford Whalers relocated to Denver, Phoenix, and Raleigh. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg, and the Winnipeg Jets were revived. 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, and on June 22, 2016, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced
3094-625: The Ottawa Senators in the first Stanley Cup Finals between exclusively NHL teams. The Stanley Cup -winning game for the Senators would see Bruins' Billy Coutu attack the referee, earning him a ban from the NHL for life, the only in league history. The 1928–29 season was the first played at Boston Garden . In 1929, the Bruins defeated the New York Rangers to win their first Stanley Cup in two games. Standout players on
3213-615: The Quebec Bulldogs to hold a meeting to discuss 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, formed the National Hockey League. Frank Calder was chosen as the NHL's first president, serving until his death in 1943. The Bulldogs were unable to play in the NHL, and the remaining owners founded
3332-406: The St. Louis Blues , stopping seven of nine shots. In 2016, Dawn Braid was hired as the Arizona Coyotes ' skating coach, making her the first female full-time coach in the NHL. The first female referees in the NHL were hired in a test-run during the league's preseason prospect tournaments in September 2019. In 2016, the NHL hosted the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic , an exhibition game between
3451-652: The Toronto 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, an interleague competition at
3570-625: The Utah Jazz . Meruelo was granted until 2029 to secure an arena in Arizona in order to re-activate the team, bringing the total number of franchises in the NHL up to 33; however, these efforts were abandoned two months later, leaving the NHL at 32 franchises once again. According to Forbes , in 2023, the top five most valuable teams were four of the " Original Six " teams and the Los Angeles Kings: The remaining members of
3689-426: The Vancouver Canucks , defeating them in seven games for the team's first Stanley Cup since 1972. The 2010–11 Bruins were the first team in NHL history to win a game 7 three times in the same playoff run. Following their Stanley Cup win, the Bruins lost Mark Recchi to retirement and Michael Ryder and Tomas Kaberle to free agency. The Bruins went on to finish second in the Eastern Conference with 102 points, winning
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3808-430: The league playoff champion at the end of each season. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered to be the top-ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, with players from 17 countries as of the 2023–24 season . The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) also views the Stanley Cup as one of the "most important championships available to
3927-560: The third-oldest active team in the NHL, and the oldest in the United States. The Bruins are one of the " Original Six " NHL teams, along with the Detroit Red Wings , Chicago Blackhawks , Montreal Canadiens , New York Rangers , and Toronto Maple Leafs . They have won six Stanley Cup championships, tied for fourth-most of any team with the Blackhawks (trailing the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, and Red Wings, with 24, 13, and 11, respectively), and tied for second-most for an NHL team based in
4046-408: The " Kraut line " of center Milt Schmidt , right winger Bobby Bauer and left winger Woody Dumart . In the 1939–40 season , Shore was traded to the struggling New York Americans for his final NHL season. In 1941, the Bruins won their third Stanley Cup after losing only eight games and finishing first in the regular season. It was their last Stanley Cup for 29 years. World War II affected
4165-517: The " Original Six ". In 1944, Bruins' Herb Cain set the then-NHL record for points in a season with 82. However, the Bruins did not make the playoffs that season. The stars returned from World War II for the 1945–46 season , and Clapper led the team back to the Stanley Cup Finals as player-coach . He retired as a player after the next season, becoming the first player to play twenty NHL seasons. Brimsek proved to be not as good as he
4284-475: The Arena, after which they became the main tenant of Boston Garden . The Bruins improved in their second season to a winning 17–15–4 record, which originally held the record for the biggest single-season improvement in NHL history, and is now third. However, they missed out on the third and final playoff berth by one point to the expansion Pittsburgh Pirates . In their third season , Ross took advantage of
4403-738: The Bruins defeated the St. Louis Blues in four games in the 1970 Stanley Cup Finals . Orr scored the game-winning goal in overtime to clinch the Stanley Cup. The same season was Orr's most awarded—the third of eight consecutive years he won the James Norris Memorial Trophy as the top defenseman in the NHL—and he won the Art Ross Trophy , the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Hart Memorial Trophy ,
4522-462: The Bruins finishing seventh in the East, but lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion New Jersey Devils in five games. In 2003–04 , the Bruins won another division title and appeared to get past the first round for the first time in five years with a 3–1 series lead on the rival Canadiens. However, the Canadiens rallied back to win three consecutive games, upsetting the Bruins. The 2004–05 NHL season
4641-475: The Bruins more than most teams; Brimsek and the "Krauts" all enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force following the 1941 Cup win, and lost the most productive years of their careers at war. Cowley, assisted by veteran player Clapper and Busher Jackson , became the team's remaining star. The NHL had by 1942 been reduced, for the next 25 years, to the six teams that would come to be called
4760-463: The Bruins team first played, and a similarly small "49" to the right of the "B", appeared on their home uniforms. The following season, the logo was modified into the basic "spoked-B" form that was to be used thereafter. The 1950s began with Charles Adams' son Weston facing financial trouble. He was forced to accept a buyout offer from Walter A. Brown , the owner of the Boston Celtics and
4879-474: The Bruins to another Stanley Cup Finals appearance in 1988 against the Edmonton Oilers . The Bruins lost in a four-game sweep. Boston returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1990 (with Neely, Bourque, Craig Janney , Bobby Carpenter , and rookie Don Sweeney , and former Oilers goaltender Andy Moog and Reggie Lemelin splitting goaltending duties), but again lost to the Oilers, this time in five games. In
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4998-518: The Bruins won the 2010 Winter Classic over the Philadelphia Flyers in a 2–1 overtime decision at Fenway Park , thus becoming the first home team to win an outdoor classic game. They finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, and a 2010 NHL playoff opening round appearance against the Buffalo Sabres, which they won 4–2. Boston became only the third team in NHL history to lose a playoff series after leading 3–0 when they lost in game 7 to
5117-491: The Bruins won the first ever NHL game played in the United States, hosting the Montreal Maroons at Boston Arena , with Smokey Harris scoring the first-ever Bruins goal, spurring the Bruins to a 2–1 win. This would be one of the few high points of the season, as the Bruins lost their next 11 games and only managed a 6–24–0 record, finishing in last place in its first season. The Bruins played three more seasons at
5236-636: The Bruins' departure from the Boston Arena, the team played its home games at the Boston Garden for 67 seasons, beginning in 1928 and concluding in 1995 , when they moved to the TD Garden . In 1924, the NHL made the decision to expand to the United States. The previous year in 1923, sports promoter Thomas Duggan received options on three NHL franchises for the United States, and sold one to Boston grocery magnate Charles Adams . The team
5355-590: The Canadiens. They subsequently moved into the FleetCenter, now known as the TD Garden . In the 1996 playoffs, the Bruins lost their first-round series to the Florida Panthers in five games. In 1997 , Boston missed the playoffs for the first time in 30 years (and for the first time in the expansion era), having set the North American major professional record for most consecutive seasons in
5474-469: The Chicago Black Hawks' Bobby Hull , who signed a 10-year, $ 2.5 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets , then the largest in hockey history. 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
5593-421: The Chicago Blackhawks, falling in six games, with three going into overtime. In the 2013–14 season , the Bruins won the Presidents' Trophy after finishing first in the newly formed Atlantic Division with a record of 54–19–9 for 117 points. Their regular season success, however, would not translate into another conference finals appearance. Despite winning their first-round series against the Detroit Red Wings,
5712-415: The Cup. In 1945, Maurice "Rocket" Richard became the first player to score 50 goals , doing so in a 50-game season . Richard later led the Canadiens to five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960, a record no team has matched. In 1948, Asian Canadian Larry Kwong became the first Asian player in the NHL by playing for the New York Rangers. In 1958, Willie O'Ree became the first black player in
5831-409: The Garden, in 1951. Although there were some instances of success (such as making the Stanley Cup Finals in 1953 , 1957 , and 1958 , only to lose to the Montreal Canadiens each time), the Bruins mustered only four winning seasons between 1947 and 1967. They missed the playoffs eight consecutive years (1960 to 1967). On January 18, 1958, the first-ever black NHL player, Willie O'Ree , stepped onto
5950-417: 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. The NHL hockey rink is 200 by 85 feet (60.96 m × 25.91 m), approximately the same length but much narrower than IIHF standards. A trapezoidal area appears behind each goal net. The goaltender can play the puck only within
6069-451: The NHL had only six teams, collectively nicknamed the " Original Six ". The league added six new teams to double its size as a result of the 1967 NHL expansion , then increased to 18 teams by 1974, and to 21 teams due to the 1979 NHL expansion . Between 1991 and 2000, the NHL further expanded to 30 teams. It added its 31st and 32nd teams in 2017 and 2021, respectively. Salt Lake City was awarded an expansion franchise in 2024 as it acquired
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#17327724116726188-405: The NHL record—as the Bruins made the Cup Finals once more, but lost in six games to Montreal. After that series, John Bucyk retired, holding virtually every Bruins' career longevity and scoring mark to that time. The 1979 semifinals series against the Canadiens proved to be Cherry's undoing. In the deciding seventh game, the Bruins, up by a goal, were called for having too many men on the ice in
6307-428: The NHL. The Hamilton Tigers won the regular season title in 1924–25 , but 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) in 1925 . It
6426-474: The National Hockey League. In this context, each team is a member of the league, and each member appoints a Governor (usually the owner of the club), and two alternates to the Board. The current chairman of the Board is Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs . The Board of Governors exists to establish the policies of the league and to uphold its constitution. Some of the responsibilities of the Board of Governors include: The Board of Governors meets twice per year, in
6545-402: The Northeast Division title, but losing to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs in seven games. During the off-season preceding the lockout , Tim Thomas made his decision to sit out the 2012–13 season ; his rights were traded to the New York Islanders . The Bruins battled the Montreal Canadiens for leadership in the Northeast Division all season, before
6664-420: The Original Six, the Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings , respectively ranked sixth at US$ 1.87 billion and hypothetically 12th at US$ 1.3 billion. Compared with 2022, the Maple Leafs surpassed the Rangers as the most valuable NHL team, and Los Angeles overtook both Chicago and Boston, making its way into the top five. Notes: The Board of Governors is the ruling and governing body of
6783-406: The Pacific). The league temporarily realigned for the 2020–21 season but returned to the previous alignment the following year. With the addition of the Seattle Kraken in 2021–22 to the Pacific Division and the Arizona Coyotes' move from the Pacific to the Central, all four divisions now have eight teams each and both conferences have 16 teams. The number of NHL teams held constant at 30 teams from
6902-400: The Philadelphia Flyers. In the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs , the Bruins eliminated the Montreal Canadiens in seven games. On May 6, the Bruins swept the Philadelphia Flyers in four games to advance to the conference finals for the first time since 1992 . Boston then defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 1990 to face
7021-402: The Rangers. The Bruins made the semifinals again, losing to the Flyers, before losing Orr as a free agent to Chicago in the off-season. Cheevers returned in 1977 , and the Bruins got past the Flyers in the semifinals, but were swept by the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals . The story repeated itself in 1978 —with a balanced attack that saw Boston have 11 players with 20+ goal seasons, still
7140-444: The Stanley Cup in an annual interleague competition before a series of league mergers and foldings left the NHL as the only league competing for the Stanley Cup in 1926. At its inception, the NHL had four teams, all in Canada, thus the adjective "National" in the league's name. The league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, and has since consisted of both American and Canadian teams. From 1942 to 1967,
7259-421: The United States. The Bruins have also won the Presidents' Trophy four times with their most recent win in 2022–23 featuring the Bruins with 135 points—the most in one season in NHL history. The first facility to host the Bruins was the Boston Arena (now known as Matthews Arena ), the world's oldest (built 1909–10) indoor ice hockey facility still in use for the sport at any level of competition . Following
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#17327724116727378-570: 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 NHL for the 1979–80 season . Gretzky went on to lead the Oilers to win 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). In 1988, he
7497-414: 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 . On December 4, 2018, the league announced a 32nd franchise in Seattle , later named the Seattle Kraken , which joined in the 2021–22 season . On April 18, 2024, the Arizona Coyotes suspended operations and sold their hockey assets, including players and other personnel, to
7616-427: The assets of the Hamilton Tigers, and they were joined by the Pittsburgh Pirates . The New York Rangers were added in 1926, and the Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars (later the Red Wings) were 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 Toronto Maple Leafs. In 1926, Native American Taffy Abel became
7735-500: The award with two teams: Jacques Lemaire , Pat Quinn , Scotty Bowman , Barry Trotz , and John Tortorella have won the award twice, while Pat Burns is the only coach to win three times. The franchises with the most Jack Adams Award winners are the Philadelphia Flyers , Detroit Red Wings , Boston Bruins and Phoenix Coyotes with four winners each, although the Coyotes had two winners in Winnipeg before they moved to Arizona . Bill Barber , Bruce Boudreau and Ken Hitchcock are
7854-407: The collapse of the Western Hockey League (WHL) to purchase several western stars, including the team's first great star, defenseman Eddie Shore . With the Bruins, he would go on to become one of the greatest players in NHL history. Boston qualified for the then-expanded playoffs by a comfortable margin. In their first-ever playoff run, the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Finals where they lost to
7973-417: The contract expired, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and closed the league's head office for the 2004–05 season . The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the 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. The lockout shut down
8092-401: The eight remaining non-divisional intra-conference opponents—three games against every team in the other division of its conference; and 32 against 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
8211-417: 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
8330-411: The emergence of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) led the league to add the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames to keep the rival league out of those markets. In 1974, the Washington Capitals and the 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
8449-477: 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 . Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston . The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference . The team has been in existence since 1924 , making them
8568-401: The face of the Bruins for over two decades. The Bruins made the playoffs every year through the 1980s behind stars such as Park, Bourque and Rick Middleton , and had the league's best record in 1982–83 behind a Vezina Trophy -winning season from ex-Flyers goaltender Pete Peeters , with 110 points, but fell short of making the Stanley Cup Finals. Bourque, Cam Neely and Keith Crowder led
8687-587: The first championship team included Shore, Harry Oliver , Dit Clapper , Dutch Gainor and goaltender Tiny Thompson . The season after that, 1929–30 , the Bruins posted the best-ever regular season winning percentage in the NHL (.875, a record which still stands) because of a 38–5–1 record, and shattered numerous scoring records, but lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Finals . The 1930s Bruins teams included Shore, Thompson, Clapper, Babe Siebert and Cooney Weiland . The team led
8806-415: The first non-white player in the NHL and broke the league's colour barrier by playing for the New York Rangers. In 1934, the first NHL All-Star Game was held, 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
8925-438: 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 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
9044-518: The goal frames by 4 inches (10 cm) on each side and reduced the size of the goalies' leg pads. 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,
9163-409: The head office moved from Montreal. There have been four league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all occurring after 1992. The NHL's regular season is typically held from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. Following the conclusion of the regular season, 16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs , a four-round tournament that runs into June to determine the league champion. Since
9282-713: The hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes , which were deactivated, thus maintaining the total number of teams at 32. The NHL is the fifth-highest grossing professional sport league in the world by revenue , after the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Premier League (PL). The league's headquarters have been in Manhattan since 1989, when
9401-466: The ice for the Bruins. He played in 45 games for the Bruins over the 1957–58 and 1960–61 seasons. The "Uke Line"—named for the Ukrainian heritage of Johnny Bucyk , Vic Stasiuk , and Bronco Horvath – came to Boston in 1957 and enjoyed four productive offensive seasons, heralding, along with scoring stalwarts Don McKenney and Fleming MacKell , the successful era of the late 1950s. There followed
9520-406: The late stages of the third period. Montreal tied the game on the ensuing power play and won in overtime. Cherry was dismissed as head coach thereafter. The 1979–80 season saw a new head coach Fred Creighton , and also included a trade of goaltender Ron Grahame to the Los Angeles Kings for a first-round pick which was used to select Ray Bourque , one of the greatest defensemen of all-time and
9639-460: The league a share of revenue from each game's advertising sales, rather than the usual lump sum paid up front for game rights. The league's annual revenues were estimated at $ 2.27 billion. On September 16, 2012, the labour pact expired, and the league again locked out the players . The owners proposed reducing the players' share of hockey-related revenues from 57 percent to 47 percent. All games were cancelled up to January 14, 2013, along with
9758-579: The league five times in the decade. In 1939 , the team captured its second Stanley Cup. That year, Thompson was traded for rookie goaltender Frank Brimsek . Brimsek had an award-winning season, capturing the Vezina and Calder Trophies , becoming the first rookie named to the NHL first All-Star team, and earning the nickname "Mr. Zero". The team skating in front of Brimsek included Bill Cowley , Shore, Clapper and "Sudden Death" Mel Hill (who scored three overtime goals in one playoff series), together with
9877-405: The league for 310 days, making it the longest in sports history, as the NHL became the first professional sports league to lose an entire season. A new collective bargaining agreement was eventually ratified in July 2005, including a salary cap. The agreement had 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
9996-451: The league mandated hybrid no-touch icing for the 2013–14 NHL season . On November 25, 2013, ten former NHL players (Gary Leeman, Rick Vaive, Brad Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richie Dunn, Warren Holmes, Bob Manno, Blair Stewart, and Morris Titanic) sued the league for negligence in protecting players from concussions. The suit came three months after the National Football League agreed to pay former players US$ 765 million due to
10115-432: 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
10234-417: The league to resume as of the 2005–06 season . On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout season took to the ice with all 30 teams. The NHL received record attendance in the 2005–06 season, with an average of 16,955 per game. However, its television audience was slower to rebound due to American cable broadcaster ESPN 's decision to drop its NHL coverage. The league's post-lockout agreement with NBC gave
10353-424: The league's founding in 1917, the Montreal Canadiens have won the most combined NHL titles with 25, winning three NHL championship series before the league took full exclusivity of the Stanley Cup in 1926, and 22 Stanley Cups afterwards. The reigning league champions are the Florida Panthers , who defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Finals . The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as
10472-474: The league's history when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins. By the mid-1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the United States, coupled with concerns that the Western Hockey League was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s . The league doubled in size to 12 teams for
10591-563: The league's marketability. In December 2009, Brendan Shanahan was hired to replace Colin Campbell, and was given the role of senior vice-president of player safety. Shanahan began to hand out suspensions on high-profile perpetrators responsible for dangerous hits, such as Raffi Torres receiving 25 games for his hit on Marian Hossa . To aid with removing high-speed collisions on icing, which had led to several potential career-ending injuries, such as to Hurricanes' defenceman Joni Pitkanen ,
10710-495: The league's top goal scorer and the first NHL player to break the 100-point mark, setting many goal- and point-scoring records. With other stars like forwards Bucyk, John McKenzie , Derek Sanderson , and Hodge, defenders like Dallas Smith and goaltender Gerry Cheevers , the "Big Bad Bruins" became one of the league's top teams from the late 1960s into the 1980s. In 1970 , a 29-year Stanley Cup drought came to an end in Boston, as
10829-595: The league, before his knee injuries worsened, as well as the last time Orr and Esposito would finish 1–2 in regular season scoring. The Bruins placed second in the Adams Division, and lost to the Chicago Black Hawks in the first round of the 1975 playoffs , losing a best-of-three series, two games to one. Continuing with Sinden's rebuilding of the team, the Bruins traded Esposito and Carol Vadnais for Brad Park , Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi to
10948-786: The months of June and December, with the exact date and place to be fixed by the Commissioner. The chief executive of the league is commissioner Gary Bettman . Some other senior executives include chief legal officer Bill Daly , director of hockey operations Colin Campbell , and senior vice president of player safety George Parros . A committee led by Bettman and chairman Jeremy Jacobs is responsible for vetting new ownership applications, collective bargaining, and league expansion. Other members include Mark Chipman , N. Murray Edwards , Craig Leipold , Ted Leonsis , Geoff Molson , Henry Samueli , Larry Tanenbaum , Jeff Vinik , and David Blitzer . The National Hockey League's rules are one of
11067-493: The most of any coach. The award is named in honour of Jack Adams , Hall of Fame player for the Toronto Arenas/St. Patricks , Vancouver Millionaires and original Ottawa Senators , and long-time Coach and General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings . It was first awarded at the conclusion of the 1973–74 regular season. Jacques Demers is the only coach to win the award in consecutive seasons. Five coaches have won
11186-431: 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
11305-577: The only coaches to win the award after replacing the head coach who started the season. Barber took over for Craig Ramsay during the Flyers' 2000–01 season , Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon a month into the Capitals' 2007–08 season while Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne a month into the Blues' 2011–12 season . The closest vote occurred in 2006 , when the winner Lindy Ruff edged out Peter Laviolette by
11424-412: The only player to ever win four major awards in the same season. While Sinden temporarily retired from ice hockey before the 1970–71 season to enter business (he was replaced by ex-Bruins and Canadiens defenseman Tom Johnson ), the Bruins set dozens of offensive scoring records: they had seven of the league's top ten scorers—a feat not achieved before or since—set the record for wins in a season, and in
11543-475: The onset of World War II took a toll on the league. The Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930, then folded a year later. The Senators likewise became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, also lasting only a year. The Maroons did not survive, as they suspended operations in 1938. The Americans were suspended in 1942 due to a lack of available players, and they were never reactivated. For
11662-436: The playoffs in 2000–01 , and Keenan was let go. Center Jason Allison led the Bruins in scoring. The following season, 2001–02 , the Bruins won their first Northeast Division title since 1993 with a core built around Joe Thornton , Sergei Samsonov , Brian Rolston , Bill Guerin , Mike Knuble and Glen Murray . They lost in six games to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs. The 2002–03 season found
11781-424: The playoffs. The next season, Boston made the playoffs for the first of 29 consecutive seasons, an all-time record. The Bruins then obtained forwards Phil Esposito , Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield from Chicago in a deal celebrated as one of the most one-sided in hockey history. Hodge and Stanfield became key elements of the Bruins' success, and Esposito, who centered a line with Hodge and Wayne Cashman , became
11900-477: The playoffs. After a slow start to the 2008–09 season , the Bruins went on to have the best record in the Eastern Conference and qualified for the playoffs for the fifth time in nine years, facing the Canadiens in the playoffs for the fourth time during that span, defeating them in four games before losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals. On January 1, 2010,
12019-411: The playoffs. During a game between the Bruins and the Vancouver Canucks on February 21, 2000, Marty McSorley was ejected for using his stick to hit Canucks forward Donald Brashear in the head, and subsequently suspended for what resulted in the rest of his career. After a mediocre start, the Bruins fired coach Pat Burns in favor of Mike Keenan . Despite a 15-point improvement, the Bruins missed
12138-621: The playoffs. The Bruins lost in the first round of the 1998 playoffs to the Washington Capitals in six games. In 1999, the Bruins defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in six games during the first round of the playoffs. Nevertheless, they would lose to the Sabres in six games in the second round of the playoffs. In the 1999–2000 season , the Bruins finished in last place in the Northeast Division and failed to qualify for
12257-403: The power play. 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 collective bargaining agreement. The policy provides for a twenty-game suspension for a first positive test, a sixty-game suspension for
12376-478: The scoring standings and Boston regained the Stanley Cup by defeating the New York Rangers in six games in the 1972 Stanley Cup Finals . The 1972–73 season saw upheaval for the Bruins. Former head coach Sinden became the general manager. Bruins players Gerry Cheevers , Derek Sanderson , Johnny McKenzie and Ted Green left to join the World Hockey Association (WHA). Coach Tom Johnson
12495-644: The second-best regular season record after Pittsburgh, Boston was swept in the first round by the Buffalo Sabres . Bourque made the NHL All-Star First Team. The 1995 season was the Bruins' last at the Boston Garden . The final official match played in the Garden was a 3–0 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the 1995 playoffs; the Bruins went on to play the final game at the old arena on September 28, 1995, in an exhibition matchup against
12614-673: The sport". The NHL is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan . The National Hockey League was organized at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal on November 26, 1917, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 at Renfrew, Ontario . The NHL immediately took the NHA's place as one of the leagues that contested for
12733-540: The successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA). Founded in 1909, the NHA began play in 1910 with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec , and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey. However, by its eighth season , a series of disputes with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone led team owners of the Montreal Canadiens , the Montreal Wanderers , the Ottawa Senators , and
12852-405: The team fell to the Canadiens in seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals during the 2014 playoffs . In the 2014–15 season , the Bruins finished with a record of 41–27–14 for 96 points, missing out on the playoffs by just two points after the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Ottawa Senators clinched the final two playoff spots in the East. The Bruins therefore became only the third team to miss
12971-406: The team finishing in last place in the division. After the disappointing 2006–07 season , Lewis was fired as coach, replaced by Claude Julien . The 2007–08 campaign saw the Bruins finish 41–29–12 and making the playoffs. Although Bruins center Patrice Bergeron was injured with a concussion most of the season, youngsters Milan Lucic , David Krejci and Vladimir Sobotka showed promise in
13090-590: The time. 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, but the series in the Stanley Cup Finals against the PCHA's Seattle Metropolitans was abandoned due to the Spanish Flu epidemic. In 1924, Montreal won their first Stanley Cup as a member of
13209-458: 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"; Brodeur at the time was one of the best goaltenders at getting behind the net to handle the puck. Since the 2013–14 season, the league trimmed
13328-705: The two standard sets of professional ice hockey rules in the world, the other being the rules of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), as used in tournaments such as the Olympics . The IIHF rules are derived from the Canadian amateur ice hockey rules of the early 20th century, while the NHL rules evolved directly from the first organized indoor ice hockey game in Montreal in 1875, updated by subsequent leagues up to 1917, when
13447-401: Was before the war, and after 1946 the Bruins lost in the first playoff round three consecutive years. After Brimsek was traded to the Blackhawks, the only remaining quality young player was forward Johnny Peirson . During the 1948–49 season , the original form of the "spoked-B" logo, with a small number "24" to the left of the capital B signifying the calendar year in the 20th century in which
13566-500: Was fired 52 games into the season, replaced by Bep Guidolin . The Adams family, which had owned the team since its founding in the 1920s, sold it to Storer Broadcasting . The Bruins' season came to a premature end in a first-round loss to the Rangers in the 1973 playoffs . In 1974, the Bruins regained their first-place standing in the regular season, with three 100-point scorers on the team (Esposito, Orr, and Hodge). However, they lost
13685-495: Was one of the NHL's first expansion teams, and the first NHL team to be based in the United States. Adams' first act as owner was to hire Art Ross , a former star player and innovator, as general manager. Ross came up with "Bruins" for a team nickname, a name for brown bears used in classic folk tales. The team's nickname also went along with the team's original uniform colors of brown and yellow, which came from Adams' grocery chain, First National Stores . On December 1, 1924,
13804-412: Was settled quickly with all affected games rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. The resulting collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was set for renegotiation in 1998, and extended to September 15, 2004. With no new agreement in hand when
13923-522: 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 National Hockey League embarked on a rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons and the Boston Bruins in 1924, the latter being the first American team to join the league. The New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing
14042-782: Was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that dramatically improved the league's popularity in the United States. By the turn of the century, nine more teams were added to the NHL: the San Jose Sharks , the Tampa Bay Lightning , the Ottawa Senators , the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim , the Florida Panthers , the Nashville Predators , the Atlanta Thrashers , and, in 2000, the Minnesota Wild and
14161-579: Was wiped out by a lockout , and Bruins management eschewed younger free agents in favor of older veterans. The Bruins fired general manager Mike O'Connell in March and the Bruins missed the playoffs for the first time in five years. Peter Chiarelli was hired as the new general manager of the team. Head coach Mike Sullivan was fired and Dave Lewis , former coach of the Detroit Red Wings, was hired to replace him. The Bruins signed star defenseman Zdeno Chara , and center Marc Savard . The 2006–07 season ended in
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