144-646: The National Hockey League 's Metropolitan Division (often referred to simply as the " Metro Division ") was formed in 2013 as one of the two divisions in the Eastern Conference as part of a league realignment. It is also a successor of the original Atlantic Division and one of the two successors to the Southeast Division . Six of its teams were previously together in the Patrick Division from 1981 to 1993 (one joined in 1982). It
288-515: 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
432-717: A bid they privately opposed. The Canadiens, seeing no point in provoking another boycott by opposing a doomed bid, voted in favour, as did the Flames for a total of three votes in favour (including the Blues) against 15 opposed (including the Whalers). Eventually, a bidder willing to keep the team in St. Louis and save them from contraction took over the team. In 1992, the NHL added an expansion franchise in Ottawa. The league, however, rejected
576-557: A bid to expand to Hamilton . A bid from Saskatoon during this round of expansion was withdrawn before the final decision was made. In its seven seasons, the WHA paid its players $ 120 million, and lost over $ 50 million. The competition for talent introduced by the WHA, and accelerated by the signing of Bobby Hull, led to a rapid escalation of salaries for players in both leagues. For the first time, hockey players had meaningful leverage in contract negotiations. Moreover, in its search for talent,
720-463: 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
864-454: A few NHL clubs, including Montreal and Toronto, continued to boycott them. Campbell retired in 1977, and his successor, John Ziegler , was more open to unification. Under Ziegler's presidency, inter-league exhibition games became more common, eventually involving every NHL team except Los Angeles, Buffalo, Toronto, and Montreal. Merger negotiations also intensified, and continued to be conducted openly. The American teams were far less hostile to
1008-684: A former WHA city, but one which was widely expected to keep the team's nickname due to Houston's well-established history with it . However, the Edmonton Investors Group , led by Cal Nichols , was able to keep the team in Edmonton. The Oilers were eventually acquired by Edmonton-based billionaire Daryl Katz , who became sole owner of the franchise in 2008. In 2016, the Oilers opened their new arena, Rogers Place , replacing Northlands Coliseum , which had been their home since 1974. Of
1152-676: A franchise would be viable on the basis of being supported by the whole province (similar to the Saskatchewan Roughriders football team) Saskatoon itself was only a fraction of the size of any other NHL city. The owners of the Oilers, Flames and Jets were particularly opposed since Saskatchewan had become an important secondary market for all of them in terms of television revenues, merchandise sales and even gate receipts, although they were more reluctant than other owners to say so publicly so as not to alienate those same fans. The Nordiques were still owned by Carling O'Keefe (which at
1296-456: A major windfall from selling the highly touted Gretzky's rights. He also hoped to get compensation from the teams included in the merger. Gretzky only played eight games for the Racers. Skalbania ultimately could not meet his obligations (thus leading to his team's demise) and opted to sell Gretzky's contract to Oilers owner Peter Pocklington . Unlike Skalbania, Pocklington was better financed at
1440-593: A massive boycott of Molson products in Canada led the Montreal Canadiens , who were owned by Molson, to reverse their position. In a second vote, in which the Vancouver Canucks also dropped their opposition, the agreement was ratified. Although popularly called a merger, the NHL refused to recognize the WHA's records or history as being any part of its own. It explicitly treated the arrival of
1584-709: 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 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
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#17327724882491728-440: 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 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
1872-511: A motion urging the NHL to reconsider. A second vote was held in Chicago on March 22, 1979, which passed by a 14–3 margin as both Montreal and Vancouver reversed their positions. Both teams' hands were forced by the boycott, and the Canucks were also won over by the promise of a balanced schedule, with each team playing the others twice at home and twice on the road. The agreement resulted in
2016-909: A native of nearby Youngstown, Ohio , who decided to keep the team in Pittsburgh (DeBartolo's son, Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. , would later go on to own the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL ). The California Golden Seals and Kansas City Scouts were not as lucky, as both teams moved for 1976, with the Golden Seals becoming the Cleveland Barons and the Scouts the Colorado Rockies after only two years in Kansas City. By 1978
2160-615: 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
2304-537: 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
2448-737: 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 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
2592-682: 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 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
2736-408: 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,
2880-434: A viable and credible league, and with the WHA facing financial difficulty and struggling to meet payrolls, the Racers' demise left the floundering league's players and fans in doubt as to whether the league would even finish the season. However, the Racers left the league with a key piece of leverage when flamboyant owner Nelson Skalbania signed 17-year-old superstar Wayne Gretzky to a lucrative personal services contract. At
3024-536: 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 a year later. The Senators likewise became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, also lasting only
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#17327724882493168-629: 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 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
3312-587: 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 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
3456-473: Is also the date the WHA and its six remaining teams are reckoned to have formally ceased to exist. The NHL had originally intended to place its four newest franchises in each of its four divisions—then called the Adams, Norris, Patrick and Smythe—but the Oilers and Jets lobbied to be placed in the same division as the Canucks. The league agreed, although its decision to play a balanced league-wide schedule rendered
3600-399: 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
3744-753: Is the only NHL division without a Canadian team, with five of the division's clubs located in either the New York City area or in Pennsylvania and the other three in North Carolina , Ohio , and Washington, D.C. The Metropolitan Division contains some of the most historic and intense rivalries in the NHL, including Flyers–Penguins , Devils–Rangers , Capitals–Penguins , Islanders–Rangers , Capitals–Rangers , Capitals–Islanders , Flyers–Rangers , Capitals–Flyers , and Devils–Flyers . Three of its teams (Rangers, Islanders, and Devils) are within
3888-683: 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
4032-401: 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 the league's founding in 1917, the Montreal Canadiens have won the most combined NHL titles with 25, winning three NHL championship series before
4176-481: 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 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
4320-664: 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
4464-678: 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
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4608-576: The Black Hawks - Hull would later be traded from the Jets to the Whalers and play on the same line as Howe and Keon during the 1979–80 season. Even more controversial was the NHL's insistence that the four new teams be placed at the bottom of the order for the 1979 NHL Entry Draft . Historically, the NHL slots expansion teams at or near the top in an entry draft. In what was not a complete coincidence,
4752-829: 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
4896-752: The Cincinnati Stingers and Birmingham Bulls were resigned to their exclusion from the NHL, but the Quebec Nordiques fought the proposal. The NHL's American teams were less enthusiastic about including Quebec than they were about Edmonton and Winnipeg, and Ziegler thought that the Canadiens might be persuaded to support an agreement that excluded the Nordiques. Nevertheless, the WHA insisted on NHL franchises for all three of its surviving Canadian markets and Ziegler finally agreed to put
5040-673: 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
5184-542: 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 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
5328-515: The Phoenix Roadrunners , Minnesota Fighting Saints , and San Diego Mariners . This reduced the WHA to eight teams for the 1977–78 WHA season , and left its long-term future in doubt. The intense competition between the leagues did not leave the NHL unscathed. The Pittsburgh Penguins filed for bankruptcy in 1975 and nearly moved to Seattle before they found stable ownership with shopping mall magnate Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. ,
5472-406: 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
5616-625: 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
5760-523: The addition of six new teams for the 1967–68 NHL season ; this sparked the first significant expansion period for the league, which continued until it had tripled in size to 18 teams by 1974. The WHA was founded in 1971 with twelve teams, and intended to operate as a direct competitor to the NHL. It was founded by Dennis Murphy and Gary Davidson , who had together founded the American Basketball Association in 1967, with
5904-511: 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 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,
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6048-520: The "territory" of the Rangers and Flyers, based on the indemnity paid by the Islanders when they were granted an NHL franchise on Long Island. Attempts at reconciliation were frequently blocked by Toronto's Harold Ballard , Chicago's Bill Wirtz , and Boston's Paul A. Mooney , owners of the three NHL teams most affected by the WHA's player raids. By 1976, however, both leagues were struggling under
6192-741: The $ 16 million a Calgary-based group headed by Skalbania would pay for the Atlanta Flames just one year later. The four surviving WHA teams paid the Stingers and Bulls $ 1.5 million apiece in parachute payments . Cincinnati and Birmingham and joined the Central Hockey League , the league-owned minor league, for one season each. The Stingers folded after 33 games; the Bulls played two full seasons before folding. Major pro hockey has yet to return to Cincinnati or Birmingham , though
6336-665: The 1979 expansion, the Atlanta Flames relocated to Calgary , becoming archrivals of the Oilers in the process. The final chapter of the 1979 expansion arguably took place in 1983 when Bill Hunter , the original owner of the WHA Oilers, reached an agreement with St. Louis Blues owners Ralston Purina to purchase the Blues and relocate the team to his hometown of Saskatoon , Saskatchewan. Despite obtaining more than 18,000 commitments for season tickets, this bid met with universal hostility from NHL owners. Although Hunter insisted such
6480-471: The 1990s took different approaches with respect to the retired numbers – both Colorado and Carolina disclaimed their teams' pre-relocation histories in both the WHA and NHL and re-entered all previously retired numbers into circulation, regardless of league (although notably, the Hurricanes have never issued the No. 9 worn by Gordie Howe and retired by the Whalers). The Coyotes previously decided to hang all previously retired Jets' numbers in
6624-415: The Aeros and Whalers. Aeros owner Kenneth Schnitzer attempted to persuade Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs to support the agreement that included the Aeros and not the Bruins' neighbors based in Hartford, only to find that Jacobs, as one of the older league's most hard-line owners, was opposed to any sort of merger with the WHA and that Ziegler was cool to the idea of adding another Sun Belt NHL team. Of
6768-400: The Aeros would not take part in the 1978–79 WHA season , bringing the league down to seven teams. He first applied for direct admission to the NHL, only to find the older league uninterested in such an expansion with so many of its existing franchises struggling. Finally, Schnitzer campaigned to be allowed to purchase an existing club and relocate it to Houston. The obvious candidate to move was
6912-421: The Arizona Coyotes Ring of Honor. As for the modern-day Jets, they likewise honoured players from the original Jets via the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame, despite the latter's history belonging to the Coyotes. On April 18, 2024, the Arizona Coyotes suspended operations as a franchise, with the team's hockey operations assets sold to new ownership and relocated to Salt Lake City to stock the Utah Hockey Club . Under
7056-434: The Arizona franchise while the Winnipeg franchise retained the Thrashers' history; aside from Gretzky's No. 99 that was retired league-wide in 2000, the Thrashers did not officially retire any numbers while in Atlanta, though they did remove No. 37 from circulation following the death of Dan Snyder . (The number, with Snyder's family's blessing, returned to circulation in 2016 with Connor Hellebuyck currently wearing
7200-414: 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 the addition of a 31st franchise, based in Las Vegas and later named the Vegas Golden Knights , into
7344-412: The Barons (the former Golden Seals), who were on the verge of folding. Schnitzer believed the older league would accept almost any other proposal as an alternative to the perceived embarrassment of having to disband a franchise, and did come close to a deal to relocate the moribund Barons franchise to Houston. However, the NHL instead opted to approve a proposal from George and Gordon Gund (the owners of
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#17327724882497488-424: The Barons) to buy the North Stars franchise and "merge" it with their own. Having run out of options, Schnitzer folded the Aeros on July 9, 1978. In doing so, the Aeros became the only WHA playoff champion that did not eventually join the NHL. Discussion between the two leagues intensified into the 1978–79 season, when the WHA made an offer to have five teams join the NHL the following year, paying $ 5 million each for
7632-425: 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 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
7776-409: The Jets that initially prevented several players, including Hull, from playing in the WHA. The new league challenged the orders, stating that the NHL's reserve clause , which tied players' rights to their NHL team for life, was illegal. A Philadelphia district court sided with the WHA in November 1972, ruling that the reserve clause violated the Sherman Antitrust Act , freeing all players to play in
7920-417: 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
8064-486: The NHL also expanded the Stanley Cup playoffs from 12 teams to 16, which allowed the Whalers and Oilers to qualify for the playoffs in their first NHL seasons; both teams were swept in the first round. The following year, the Oilers stunned NHL loyalists when they swept the heavily favoured Canadiens in the first round. The addition of three new NHL teams in Canada led the league to reconsider other Canadian cities it had previously rejected placing franchises in. One year after
8208-405: The NHL also lowered the draft age to nineteen, effectively doubling the size and depth of the talent pool in the 1979 draft. Ostensibly, this was done in exchange for the Oilers being allowed to retain Gretzky as a priority selection, which unexpectedly became an issue after Gretzky made it clear he was not interested in voiding his personal services contract only to return to the junior ranks or join
8352-568: The NHL did place teams in the nearby markets of Columbus and Nashville in the late 1990s. The rest of the agreement was slanted heavily in the NHL's favour. The NHL held a reclamation draft for the established clubs, in which nearly all of the players who had bolted from the NHL and were still active in the WHA saw their rights revert to their NHL clubs without compensation. The WHA clubs were thus stripped of nearly all of their players; for all intents and purposes, they were effectively dissolved and had to rebuild their rosters from scratch. In one of
8496-400: The NHL enforced a reserve clause to prevent players from signing with other NHL teams after their contracts expired. Through to the end of the 1950s, the NHL refused to consider expansion seriously. However, following speculation that the Western Hockey League intended to declare itself a major league, the NHL was entertaining expansion discussions by 1963, culminating four years later with
8640-407: The NHL faced the possibility of two of its teams (the Minnesota North Stars and Barons) folding. Ziegler was able to mitigate the damage by arranging a merger between the two clubs; the Barons remain the most recent example of an American professional sports team in an established major league ceasing operations. Negotiations resumed in 1978, and it again appeared that the Houston Aeros , as one of
8784-404: The NHL for the 1977–78 season if various conditions could be met. This proposal would have seen the six teams become full NHL members, but play in their own division with a separate schedule for the first year. Led by Toronto's Harold Ballard , the owners voted down Ziegler's proposal. The Calgary Cowboys , who had hoped to be one of the six teams to join the NHL, subsequently folded, as did
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#17327724882498928-447: 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 a new team in Salt Lake City , Utah . Two months after Utah's foundation, the Coyotes ceased their efforts to re-activate within
9072-476: 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, 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
9216-416: The NHL placed a team in a former WHA city that did not previously host an NHL team; and the Whalers became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. The Oilers nearly followed the other three teams south the following year after financially strapped owner Peter Pocklington received an offer from Leslie Alexander (owner of the NBA's Houston Rockets ) to move the Oilers to Houston – itself not only
9360-474: 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
9504-415: 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 was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that dramatically improved the league's popularity in the United States. By
9648-399: The Oilers, Whalers, Nordiques, and Jets joining the NHL for the 1979–80 NHL season , increasing the league's membership to 21 teams. The NHL, however, insisted on treating the WHA teams' arrival as an expansion, not a merger. The WHA teams each had to pay a $ 6 million franchise fee for the right to enter the NHL, and were responsible for indemnifying the Stingers and Bulls. However, since this
9792-420: 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
9936-406: 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
10080-450: 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 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
10224-425: The Stanley Cup Finals, and advanced to the second playoff round only three times (1985 and 1987 as the Jets, and 2012 as the Coyotes) and the conference final once (2012). Notwithstanding the NHL's non-recognition of WHA records, all four surviving WHA teams subsequently retired at least one jersey number in recognition of on-ice endeavors achieved exclusively or primarily in the WHA. The three teams that re-located in
10368-680: 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, 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
10512-620: 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 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
10656-497: The WHA teams not as a merger, but rather as an expansion consisting of four new teams which happened to have identical or similar names to some of the former WHA teams. Notably, and in stark contrast to amalgamations consummated within the preceding decade in American football and basketball , the existing NHL teams were allowed to reclaim players to which they held NHL "rights" from the former WHA clubs without compensation, with
10800-544: The WHA teams knew this, but went along only because they had to participate. As the league considered the agreement to be an expansion as opposed to a merger, it refused to recognize WHA records. The four new NHL franchises were regarded as new entities, not as continuations of the former WHA franchises. From the NHL's perspective, the admission of former WHA organizations was no different than earlier enfranchisements involving cities with existing minor league organizations that were absorbed by incoming NHL franchises (for example,
10944-463: The WHA turned to the previously overlooked European market, signing players from Finland and Sweden . Anders Hedberg , Lars-Erik Sjöberg , and Ulf Nilsson signed with the Jets in 1974 and thrived in North America, both in the WHA and later the NHL. The Jets won three of the six remaining WHA playoff championships after signing European players, and their success sparked similar signings league-wide. Many of these players went on to NHL careers. Of
11088-591: The WHA would indeed play. In early 1973, NHL governors Bill Jennings of the New York Rangers and Ed Snider of the Philadelphia Flyers approached the WHA and offered to have all 12 of its franchises join the NHL if the WHA franchises would pay $ 4 million each in expansion fees. This overture went nowhere, particularly since in addition to the aforementioned franchise fees Jennings and Snider demanded exorbitant compensation for infringing on
11232-466: The WHA. The ruling ended the NHL's monopoly on talent. Since hockey salaries were among the lowest in professional sports at the time, a key part of the WHA's business plan was to place franchises like the Edmonton Oilers , Winnipeg Jets , Ottawa Nationals , and Quebec Nordiques in mid-sized Canadian markets, cities the NHL had rejected for expansion franchises but which, the WHA thought, could sustain major professional teams. The WHA also challenged
11376-744: 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 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
11520-439: The agreement were the Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks , Boston Bruins , Toronto Maple Leafs , and Los Angeles Kings . The five teams that cast a "no" ballot did so for different reasons. The Bruins were not pleased with the prospect of sharing New England with the Whalers, while the Canadiens were even less enamored with having to share the province of Quebec with the Nordiques. The Canadiens, Canucks, and Maple Leafs disliked
11664-490: The caveat that each of the new NHL franchises were permitted to protect two goaltenders and two skaters on their WHA rosters. An expansion draft was held to stock the WHA refugees' NHL rosters. The expansion teams were also placed at the end of the draft order for the 1979 NHL entry draft , as opposed to typical expansion drafts in North American sports leagues, which usually place the expansion teams at or very near
11808-401: The deal, fans in Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Quebec City organized a boycott of Molson products, believing that Molson was standing in the way of their cities remaining big-league hockey towns. The boycott quickly spread nationwide. It caused a drain on the Canucks' revenue as well, since Pacific Coliseum sold Molson products. The House of Commons of Canada weighed in as well, unanimously passing
11952-405: The divisional alignment irrelevant for the next two seasons. Nevertheless, the divisions were formally retained. Although the WHA clubs had performed quite well against their NHL rivals in inter-league exhibition games—of 63 such games played, the WHA won 34, lost 22 and tied 7 —they were nevertheless expected to struggle on the ice after joining the NHL due to the purging of their rosters. However,
12096-401: 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
12240-417: 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
12384-706: 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 . 1979 NHL expansion The 1979 NHL expansion , popularly referred to as the NHL–WHA merger , was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA). The result of
12528-471: The expansion fees equally; this did not go over well with the league's Canadian owners. The objection was not without precedent; in 1970, Montreal and Toronto had only agreed to support Vancouver's addition to the NHL after they were paid indemnities for the inclusion of the Canucks in the Hockey Night in Canada television deal. Although the three Canadian teams could not block any agreement on their own,
12672-469: The fact that any deal needed three-quarters support among the NHL owners meant that the Canadian teams only needed two American clubs to side with them to block any agreement. In June 1977, Ziegler announced that the NHL had created a committee to investigate the possibility of a merger, while Bill DeWitt, Jr. , owner of the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers , stated that Ziegler had invited six WHA teams to join
12816-483: The few concessions to the WHA teams, however, they were allowed to protect two goalies and two skaters. Some less formal exceptions were also made, in particular for aging players: hockey legends Gordie Howe and Dave Keon of the Whalers were allowed to remain with the Whalers rather than report to the Red Wings and Maple Leafs respectively while Bobby Hull was allowed to remain with the Jets rather than report to
12960-437: The financial pressures of competing against each other on the ice and in the courtroom. Bobby Hull had become an outspoken proponent of a merger between the two leagues, though Gordie Howe (the NHL's all-time scoring leader-turned-WHA player) and WHA president Bill MacFarland disagreed, arguing that the WHA was sustainable indefinitely. Long-time NHL President Clarence Campbell was fiercely opposed to any union between
13104-494: 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 was settled quickly with all affected games rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced
13248-435: The floundering Colorado Rockies (who would have presumably drafted Gretzky with the first overall pick had they been given the opportunity). Gretzky was still only eighteen years old at the time but was allowed to join the NHL with the Oilers on account of his professional experience. As a player joining from another professional league, Gretzky was deemed ineligible for the league's Calder Memorial Trophy awarded each year to
13392-659: 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 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
13536-483: The front of the draft order. Since the demise of the Western Canada Hockey League in 1926, the NHL had existed as the only major professional North American ice hockey league. After dwindling from ten teams to the so-called Original Six in 1942, the NHL stabilized. In the years following World War II , the league became immensely profitable. Similar to other professional leagues of the era,
13680-438: 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
13824-431: 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,
13968-431: The guidance of veteran hockey owner Bill Hunter . By its inaugural season , 67 NHL players had defected to the new league. Former Chicago Black Hawks star Bobby Hull lent immediate credibility to the fledgling circuit when he signed a 10-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets for $ 2.7 million, the largest in hockey history at the time. The NHL attempted in court to block the defections, earning an injunction against
14112-401: The idea of a merger than their Canadian counterparts. There were a number of reasons for this, but probably the most compelling was the Montreal Canadiens ' dominance of the NHL during the years of the WHA's existence. The Canadiens won five Stanley Cup championships during this time, including four in a row from 1976 through 1979. The 1976–77 Canadiens in particular are widely considered to be
14256-416: The idea of having to split Hockey Night in Canada revenues six ways rather than three, while the Canucks and Kings feared the loss of dates with NHL teams from the east. Maple Leafs' owner Ballard had a personal grudge as well; he had never forgiven the WHA for plundering his roster in the early 1970s. The Canadiens were owned by Molson Brewery , and when news emerged that the Canadiens had voted against
14400-466: 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 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
14544-527: 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
14688-432: 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
14832-594: 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 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
14976-407: 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 the contract expired, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and closed
15120-628: 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 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
15264-492: 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 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
15408-573: The league's largest market (New York), the Flyers are in the fourth largest market (Philadelphia), and the Capitals are in the seventh largest (Washington, D.C.). Games involving Metropolitan Division teams are frequently shown on U.S. national television. Teams in bold are currently in the division. National Hockey League The National Hockey League ( NHL ); French : Ligue nationale de hockey [liɡ nɑsjɔnal də ɔkɛ] ( LNH ),
15552-426: The league's strongest teams, were an obvious candidate to join the NHL. Unfortunately for Houston, by this time Ziegler realized NHL owners would never vote to admit six teams, and floated a proposal that would admit four WHA franchises. The WHA responded by insisting that all three of its Canadian teams be admitted to the NHL. This left room for only one American team, with the only serious contenders for that spot being
15696-428: The league's top rookie. The former WHA teams were restocked via the 1979 NHL Expansion Draft with the established NHL teams receiving $ 125,000 per player taken in that draft. This compensation, however, formed part of the former WHA teams' $ 6 million franchise fees. Additionally, a good number of players on the list were either retired or of little value; years later Oilers general manager/coach Glen Sather said that
15840-416: The league, an additional factor was that star Québécois players were long accustomed to playing in their home province, and even with the draft in effect these players (in particular, Guy Lafleur ) successfully leveraged the threat of signing with the Nordiques to ensure the Canadiens were able to acquire their NHL rights. Hence, adding Canadian teams and in particular absorbing or eliminating the Nordiques had
15984-750: 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 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 ,
16128-499: The matter to a vote of the NHL's Board of Governors. At a March 8, 1979 meeting in Key Largo, Florida , 12 of the 17 owners supported the proposal—one short of the required three-fourths majority (13 teams out of 17 would have represented 76.5% of the league, just past the threshold stipulated in the NHL constitution to grant expansion franchises. As the initial vote stood, it only represented 70.6%). The five teams that voted against
16272-786: 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
16416-427: The most dominant team in NHL history. Montreal owed this success in large part to its ability to better resist WHA efforts to lure away its players, a notable exception being J.C. Tremblay , who left the Canadiens to play for the WHA's Quebec Nordiques . While this may have been in part because Canadian Hockey Night in Canada television revenues were mostly distributed among the three Canadian teams instead of across
16560-483: The negotiations was that the WHA folded, and four of its six surviving teams - the Edmonton Oilers , New England Whalers , Quebec Nordiques , and Winnipeg Jets – entered the NHL as expansion teams who commenced play in the NHL in the 1979–80 season. The agreement officially took effect on June 22; it ended the seven-year existence of the WHA and re-established the NHL as the sole major league in North American professional ice hockey . The two leagues had discussed
16704-512: The number.) The "new" Jets immediately and controversially recognized the league's decision by issuing No. 9 to Evander Kane , who had worn the same number with the Thrashers. In 2014, after the Coyotes changed their geographical identifier from Phoenix to Arizona, they returned all of the numbers retired from the original Jets era to circulation, reclassifying them as "honoured numbers" on
16848-431: 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
16992-552: The older league more directly by placing teams like the Philadelphia Blazers , New York Golden Blades , Toronto Toros , and Chicago Cougars in NHL markets. The WHA's existence prompted the NHL to expand hastily to Atlanta and Long Island in 1972 to keep the rival loop out of the newly completed Omni Coliseum and Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum . Merger negotiations between the two leagues had been ongoing since shortly after it became clear within NHL circles
17136-408: The possibility of some sort of amalgamation for numerous years, despite the acrimonious relationship between the two after the WHA aggressively recruited NHL players upon the former's founding in 1971. The two sides came close to an agreement in 1977, but the proposed merger was defeated by a group of hard-line NHL owners. The NHL also initially rejected the 1979 expansion agreement by one vote; however,
17280-440: The potential of blunting that advantage. Also, both NHL and WHA owners realized that the Canadian markets were a vital economic base, both to the WHA and any future rival league that might take its place. Absorbing the Canadian markets would therefore preclude the possibility of the NHL having to fight off another rival league. American support for a merger, however, was based on the assumption that all existing NHL teams would share
17424-403: 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
17568-677: The purchase of the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League by the NHL Canucks in 1970). The Canadian teams were permitted to operate under their established names, colors, logos and front office personnel. To appease and satisfy the Bruins, however, the NHL insisted that the Whalers drop "New England" from their name and they entered the league as the "Hartford Whalers" instead. The NHL continues to recognize all four franchises as having been founded on June 22, 1979, which
17712-474: The rafters including, notably, the No. 9 of Bobby Hull notwithstanding the fact Hull only played 18 games for the Jets in their first NHL season (the last of his career). In doing so, the Coyotes implicitly recognized the Winnipeg Jets' entire history from 1972 to 1996 as their own. The Coyotes later temporarily un-retired No. 9 so Hull's son Brett could wear it for the final five games of his NHL career. By
17856-404: The right to join. Although the WHA offer was not accepted, Ziegler was encouraged, stating that owners were beginning to view the negotiations from a business standpoint rather than an emotional one. The WHA saw the Indianapolis Racers fold after only 25 games, reducing the league further to six teams, the lowest in league history. Six teams was widely seen as the absolute minimum to maintain
18000-430: 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 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,
18144-672: The teams that joined the NHL in 1979, only the Edmonton Oilers remain in their original city today. The other three franchises all moved and acquired new names within three years of each other in the 1990s: the Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995 and won the Stanley Cup in their first season in Denver; the Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996, a move which remains the only occasion since 1979 that
18288-472: The terms of the agreement with Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo , the franchise would have been reactivated if an NHL-ready arena had been built within five years. However, after the cancellation of an auction for a parcel of land that Meruelo intended to use to build a new arena, Meruelo gave up his rights to the franchise on July 10, 2024. At the Board of Governors’ meeting on June 26, Meruelo informed Bettman that he
18432-629: The three Sun Belt teams that had joined the league since 1967, one (the Golden Seals) had already relocated and two (the Los Angeles Kings and Atlanta Flames) were struggling financially. During the final series of talks, it soon became evident that no merger of any sort would take place in time for the 1978–79 NHL season . It was also apparent that when there was a merger, the Aeros were not likely to be included. Schnitzer announced that
18576-648: The three cities to have lost their WHA/NHL teams, only Winnipeg has received one back when the Atlanta Thrashers relocated there in 2011 . The Oilers are the only WHA team to win the Stanley Cup while in their WHA city, which they have done on five occasions—1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, and 1990. The Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 1996, their first season after leaving Quebec City, and have since won Cup championships in 2001 and 2022. The Hurricanes won their only Stanley Cup in 2006, their ninth season after leaving Hartford. The Jets/Coyotes franchise never appeared in
18720-540: The time and owned a team that was much better supported and thus reasonably stable by WHA standards, and were all but certain to be part of a merger deal. The two leagues reached an agreement in March 1979 to grant expansion franchises in four WHA cities, pending ratification by the NHL's owners. The NHL originally wanted to take in the New England Whalers , Winnipeg Jets , and Edmonton Oilers . The owners of
18864-555: The time owned a brewery in Saskatoon) and also kept silent to avoid triggering a 1979-like boycott. As this was occurring, the final installments of the 1979 expansion fees were coming due. To minimize public support for the bid, Ziegler arranged to defer receipt of the fees from the Canadian teams until after the Board of Governors vote, ostensibly making the Oilers, Jets and Nordiques "ineligible" to vote on Hunter's bid so that they did not have to make their position officially known on
19008-474: The time the NHL returned to Winnipeg, the league had taken over the Coyotes following bankruptcy and had even entertained an offer from the eventual Thrashers' purchasers to return the Coyotes to Manitoba. The league therefore had to decide whether to allow the former Thrashers to reclaim the Jets' name and history. In the end, the NHL decided to allow Winnipeg to reclaim its former name, but not its pre-1996 history. The pre-1996 Jets history therefore remained with
19152-452: The time, the NHL did not permit the signing of players under 20, nor did it allow its owners to sign players to anything except standard NHL contracts, but the WHA had no rules barring such signings. Skalbania signed Gretzky to a personal services contract so that he would retain the rights to the teenaged superstar even if the WHA folded outright. He knew the Racers would not be part of any merger, but hoped to keep them alive long enough to reap
19296-613: 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 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
19440-458: 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
19584-837: 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 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,
19728-511: The two leagues, saying, "They're our rivals. They were people that did their best to destroy us. Why would we salvage them now? To hell with them." Despite this animosity, some NHL teams agreed to play preseason exhibition games against WHA opponents prior to the 1974–75 season. Campbell ordered this interleague play halted in 1975, but the following year, the NHL president (who by this time was facing both declining health and personal scandal) relented and interleague exhibition games resumed, although
19872-649: 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
20016-604: 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 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
20160-484: 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 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
20304-407: Was nominally the same fee paid by all of the other teams that joined the NHL in the 1970s (a decade of high inflation), even with the indemnities the financial terms of the agreement were nominally favorable to the WHA. Although some of the teams that joined earlier in the decade received concessions on their fees, even after compensating Cincinnati and Birmingham the incoming teams paid less than half
20448-545: 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 the Quebec Bulldogs to hold a meeting to discuss the league's future. Realizing the NHA constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out,
20592-587: 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 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
20736-402: 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 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
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