102-533: The NHL Foundation Player Award was awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) player "who applies the core values of [ice] hockey —commitment, perseverance and teamwork—to enrich the lives of people in his community". The winner is given a grant of US$ 25,000 to help causes that the winner supports. Many players have been awarded as a result of large charitable contributions to their community. For instance, Vincent Lecavalier received
204-837: 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
306-631: 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
408-466: 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
510-463: 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
612-513: A lock for a team. Internal considerations took a hand in that since as Montreal and Toronto were not interested in sharing CBC television revenues with another Canadian club, and Chicago owner Arthur Wirtz 's support was reputedly contingent on the creation of a St. Louis team, although that city had not submitted a formal bid, to purchase the decrepit St. Louis Arena , which the Black Hawks ownership then also owned. Buffalo also nearly got
714-426: 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
816-615: 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
918-537: 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
1020-408: 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,
1122-576: A team over nearby Pittsburgh until Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney , who served as a minority investor in the Penguins early years, persuaded the Norris brothers, whom he knew through their common interest in horse racing , to vote for Pittsburgh in the expansion process. Vancouver and Buffalo both subsequently received teams for the NHL's next expansion in 1970. On a more general note, many traditionalists resisted expansion, claiming it would dilute
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#17327872439531224-399: 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
1326-683: 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
1428-824: 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
1530-1097: 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,
1632-664: 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
1734-456: 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
1836-799: 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
1938-778: 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 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
2040-709: The Barons in 1976. While the Minnesota North Stars were in a traditional hockey area, the team was struggling financially. In 1978, the two ownership groups merged the franchises into the North Stars with the Barons' owners Gordon and George Gund III becoming the majority owners of the team. Although, the merged North Stars improved on the ice and made two finals appearances in 1981 and 1991 , they continued to have financial difficulties. In late 1980s,
2142-829: 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
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#17327872439532244-490: The California Seals (San Francisco – Oakland), Los Angeles Kings , Minnesota North Stars , Philadelphia Flyers , Pittsburgh Penguins , and St. Louis Blues . Had one of the teams been unable to start, a franchise would have then been awarded to Baltimore. Four of those teams are still playing in their original cities under their original names. In 1978, the North Stars merged with the Cleveland Barons , who were
2346-665: 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
2448-749: 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
2550-557: The Detroit Red Wings are the only teams to have been represented twice by winners. The award is closely related to the King Clancy Memorial Trophy , as both are awarded to a player who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community. German Olaf Kolzig , Swede Henrik Zetterberg and Americans Ryan Miller and Dustin Brown are the only non-Canadian winners, while Ron Francis and Joe Sakic are
2652-695: The New York Rangers (an Original Six team) and the New York Islanders (a 1972 expansion team) with four Cups. After successfully defending their title the following year , the franchise tied the Edmonton Oilers (at five Cups), with the Oilers joining the league in the 1979 merger with the WHA . The Los Angeles Kings did not make a Stanley Cup Finals appearance until 1993 during the Wayne Gretzky era. The Kings did not return to
2754-615: 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
2856-406: 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
2958-709: 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
3060-625: 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
3162-469: 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
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3264-555: The Cup Finals again until 2012 , when they finally won their first Cup. Los Angeles won the Cup again in 2014 . While four of the 1967 expansion teams still play in their original cities, one has relocated and one ceased operations. The Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area-based franchise was the least successful of the 1967 expansion teams: noncompetitive both on the ice and at the box office, the club eventually moved to Cleveland to become
3366-415: 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
3468-575: The Gunds attempted to relocate the North Stars to the Bay Area, but were denied by the league. The NHL and the Gunds came to a compromise with the Gunds selling the North Stars and were given an expansion team that became the San Jose Sharks in 1991. As part of the compromise, the North Stars and Sharks had a player dispersal and expansion draft in which the North Stars' roster was split between
3570-552: The NFL never fully materialized until decades later. Despite the expansion and the subsequent merger with the WHA, NHL broadcasting on a national scale in the U.S. continued to be spotty between 1967 and 1981. Although NBC and CBS held rights at various times, neither network carried anything close to a full schedule, even carrying only selected games of the Stanley Cup Finals. All the 1967 expansion teams were placed in
3672-563: 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, 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,
3774-464: The NHL Board of Governors considered applications from 14 different ownership groups, including five from Los Angeles , two from Pittsburgh , and one each from Minneapolis – Saint Paul , Philadelphia , San Francisco – Oakland , Baltimore , Buffalo , and Vancouver . Cleveland and Louisville had also expressed previous interest but were not represented. Six franchises were ultimately added:
3876-480: 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
3978-420: The NHL and each unveiled uniform patches to be worn by those teams. The patches were unveiled on February 9, 2016, on the 50th anniversary of the NHL awarding the franchises, which led the Penguins to unveil a patch with three Stanley Cups. With the Penguins winning that year's Stanley Cup Finals , their patch was modified to have four Cups. The season ended with the Penguins clinching their fifth Cup . Among
4080-503: The NHL became immensely profitable. Professional sports teams of the era were primarily gate-driven enterprises; however, attendances consistently rose after the end of the war. With arenas that generally held around 15,000 spectators in this era selling out with increasing frequency, the league expanded the schedule from the wartime 50 games to 70 games by the 1950s. Meanwhile, owners aggressively kept costs (especially player salaries) as low as possible and ruthlessly suppressed all attempts by
4182-492: The NHL for players and the Stanley Cup . In addition, the league hoped that the expansion would result in a lucrative TV contract in the United States. The Seals, later renamed the California Golden Seals and then the Cleveland Barons , are the only team from the expansion to cease operations and not reach the Stanley Cup. The Blues, Flyers, Kings, and Penguins continue to operate in their home cities, while
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4284-451: 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
4386-687: 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
4488-474: 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
4590-538: The North Stars relocated to Dallas, Texas and became the Dallas Stars . All active teams have won the Stanley Cup at least once, with the Penguins holding the most Cup titles among the 1967 expansion franchises at five. In the aftermath of the shakeout caused by the Depression and World War II , in which the National Hockey League contracted from ten teams to the so-called " Original Six " clubs ( Boston Bruins , Montreal Canadiens , Toronto Maple Leafs , New York Rangers , Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks ),
4692-420: 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
4794-406: 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
4896-402: 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 the top-ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, with players from 17 countries as of
4998-570: 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
5100-429: The West, and Pittsburgh and Philadelphia in the East. After the 1998 realignment , which reorganized the league into six divisions, only the Flyers and the Penguins are in the same division. When the league realigned again in 2013 to a different four division setup, the Stars and Blues were placed in the same division. The St. Louis Blues immediately made an impact by appearing in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals in
5202-414: 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
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#17327872439535304-427: 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
5406-415: The award in 2008 for committing US$ 3 million to build The Vincent Lecavalier Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorder Center at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida . Fifteen players won the NHL Foundation Player Award during its existence. Kelly Chase was awarded the inaugural NHL Foundation Player Award in 1998 . No player has ever won the award twice. The Buffalo Sabres , Calgary Flames and
5508-417: 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
5610-401: 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
5712-417: 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
5814-411: 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
5916-442: The end of the 2016–17 NHL season , which marked the 50th season for the 1967 expansion teams, the Flyers are the most successful of the expansion team in terms of all-time points percentage (.576), second only to the Montreal Canadiens (.590) in NHL history. Additionally, the Flyers have the most appearances in the league semi-finals (known as the conference finals since the 1981–82 season) out of all 26 expansion teams with 16 and
6018-480: The end of the Original Six era and the beginning of a new era of the NHL . The expansion, Bobby Orr 's record $ 1 million contract in 1971, and the formation of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972 forever changed the landscape of the North American professional game. It was the WHA that ended up being the NHL's chief rival during the 1970s, while the Western Hockey League ceased operations in 1974. The NHL's first expansion period ended in 1974 by which time
6120-464: 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 . 1967 NHL expansion The 1967 National Hockey League (NHL) expansion added six new franchises for the 1967–68 season , doubling the size of the league to 12 teams. It was the largest expansion undertaken at one time by an established major sports league and
6222-406: The established teams in the near future. Because of the inherent competitive imbalance, there was some support for the idea of placing the new teams in a completely separate division or conference, with a separate schedule for the first few seasons and then gradually integrating the new teams into the established NHL, much like the then-progressing AFL-NFL merger was being carried out. Ultimately,
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#17327872439536324-547: The existing NHL owners wanted no encroachments upon their profits. The NHL had been an early leader in television broadcasting, both in Canada and the U.S. However, by 1960, its TV contracts had expired, and the league had none until 1963. The owners saw that the televising of other sports had enhanced the images of those leagues' players, and feared that this would provide leverage at salary time. Already, Montreal, and William M. Jennings in New York, took power. In 1963, Rangers governor William Jennings introduced to his peers
6426-400: The final. Until 1974 , no expansion team defeated an Original Six team in a playoff series or even reached the Final again. That season, the Philadelphia Flyers, who had steadily built a strong team, defeated Boston to win the Stanley Cup. The Flyers repeated as champions in 1975 by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the first modern Stanley Cup Finals to not feature an Original Six club. As of
6528-405: The first change in the composition of the NHL since 1942 , ending the era of the Original Six . The six new teams were the Los Angeles Kings , Minnesota North Stars , Oakland Seals , Philadelphia Flyers , Pittsburgh Penguins , and St. Louis Blues . This expansion, including placing two new clubs on the West Coast , was the result of the league's fears of a rival league that would challenge
6630-415: 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
6732-462: The first three years, but were swept in each. Their first Stanley Cup title in 2019 came 49 years after their previous finals appearance. Although they were the first team from the expansion to reach the finals, the Blues were the last of the five active 1967 teams to win the Stanley Cup. After the 1969–70 season , the league moved Chicago to the West Division and altered the playoff format to force Eastern and Western teams to face each other prior to
6834-438: 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
6936-431: 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,
7038-458: The governors did not agree to the proposal, the topic of expansion arose every time the owners met thereafter. The expansion process formally began in March 1965, when NHL President Clarence Campbell announced that the league proposed to expand its operations through the formation of a second six-team division. San Francisco – Oakland and Vancouver were declared "acceptable cities" with Los Angeles and St. Louis as potential sites. In February 1966,
7140-409: 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
7242-432: 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
7344-579: The idea of expanding the league to the American West Coast by adding two new teams for the 1964–65 season. His argument was based around concerns that the Western Hockey League intended to operate as a major league in the near future. He also hoped that teams on the west coast would make the league truly national, and improve the chances of returning to television in the United States as the NHL had lost its deal with CBS . While
7446-460: 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
7548-405: 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
7650-399: The league had tripled in size to 18 teams, and then merged with the WHA by absorbing four of its teams in 1979. As a result, the NHL retained its status as the premier professional ice hockey league in North America; no other league has attempted to compete against the NHL since then. However, the NHL's other goal of immediately securing a lucrative TV contract in the U.S. similar to MLB and
7752-527: 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
7854-509: The league partly implemented the idea by placing all six of the new teams in the new West Division. Alternative proposals included putting Detroit and Chicago in the West with Pittsburgh and Philadelphia going to the East. In a surprising concession, the league also agreed to implement a strictly divisional playoff bracket, meaning that four expansion teams would make the playoffs, and an expansion team
7956-432: 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
8058-417: 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
8160-558: 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
8262-474: 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
8364-563: 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 ,
8466-786: 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
8568-421: The most Stanley Cup Finals appearances with a total of eight. The Pittsburgh Penguins were largely unsuccessful in the beginning, failing to win their division until the 1990–91 season , but accumulated draft picks and built a strong team that won two consecutive Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992 . In 2009 , the Penguins became the first of the 1967 expansion teams to win three Cups. Then in 2016 , Pittsburgh tied
8670-431: 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
8772-614: The only winners to have been elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame . The award was discontinued for the 2017–18 NHL season , with the associated charitable donation being redirected towards the King Clancy Memorial Trophy . 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
8874-475: 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
8976-471: The players to unionize, in particular when they perceived a threat by the organizing efforts of Red Wings star Ted Lindsay . As the NHL stabilized, it came under the control of a few wealthy tycoons, in particular the powerful Norris family. James E. Norris , the owner of the Red Wings, effectively controlled the league's other three American teams as well. After the elder Norris died in 1952, this control
9078-403: 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
9180-599: The relocated Seals, and in 1993 the North Stars became the Dallas Stars . Both the San Francisco-Oakland market and the Minneapolis-St. Paul markets were eventually granted new teams as the San Jose Sharks and the Minnesota Wild . Canadian fans, including Prime Minister Lester Pearson , were irate that no Canadian teams were added, particularly since Vancouver had been generally considered
9282-475: The same division in 1967–68, so their success was largely gauged relative to each other before the 1974 realignment , which radically mixed up all of the league's teams into four divisions and two conferences. Subsequent expansions and realignments separated both the Original Six and the 1967 expansion teams even further, essentially reviving the league's earlier alternative plan to put Detroit and Chicago in
9384-604: 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
9486-445: The talent in the league. Even some proponents of expansion were worried at the idea of immediately doubling the NHL's size and wanted to ease teams in gradually, as Major League Baseball was doing. The expansion fee was US$ 2 million, and players taken in the very strict expansion draft came at a cost of $ 50,000 each. Experts tended to see that as high, and most expansion teams were seen as having no hope of competing successfully with
9588-677: 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
9690-458: 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
9792-705: 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
9894-619: The two teams and then each took part in the expansion draft. The new owners of the North Stars only kept the team in Minnesota for two more seasons and moved to Dallas, Texas , in 1993 to become the Dallas Stars , eventually winning their first Cup in 1999 . The NHL returned to the Twin Cities market when the Minnesota Wild began play in 2000 . During the 2016–17 NHL season , the four "expansion six" teams still in their original cities had festivities commemorating their 50th year in
9996-496: Was exercised by his son James D. Norris . NHL owners staunchly resisted applications to expand beyond six franchises. Groups representing Philadelphia (which had secured rights to the dormant Montreal Maroons franchise), Los Angeles and the AHL Cleveland Barons were each in turn given conflicting requirements that seemed to contemporary observers designed to disqualify the bids, and it was widely understood that
10098-522: Was guaranteed a slot in the Stanley Cup Finals . The new teams offered a big change to the league. After seeing virtually the same red/blue/black uniforms for over 20 years, purple, green, sky blue, and orange were introduced. Teams now regularly travelled between cities by air because of the distances involved; at the time, all of the Original Six cities had daily overnight passenger rail service between one another. The 1967 expansion marked
10200-412: 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
10302-526: 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
10404-718: 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
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