The
National Hockey League (
NHL; ) is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional
ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
leagueLeague is a term commonly used to describe a group of sports teams or individual athletes that compete against each other in a specific sport. At its simplest, it may be a local group of amateur athletes who form teams among themselves and compete on weekends; at its most complex, it can be an...
of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and 23 in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Headquartered in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the NHL is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the
major professional sports leagues of the United States and CanadaThe major professional sports leagues, or simply major leagues, in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions in team sports...
. The
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each
seasonIn an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an...
.
The league was organized on November 26, 1917, in
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada, during
World War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the
National Hockey AssociationThe National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA), which had been founded in 1909. It started with four teams and, through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 30 active franchises. After a labour dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, the league resumed play under a new collective bargaining agreement that included a
salary capIn professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...
. In
2009The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the...
, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, crowds and television audiences.
The NHL draws many highly skilled players from all over the world and currently has players from about 20 different countries. Although Canadians have historically constituted the majority of the players in the NHL, over the past four plus decades the percentages of American and European trained players have increased both because of the NHL's continued expansion from six to thirty clubs since 1967, and the increased availability of highly skilled European players, especially from former
Eastern BlocThe term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
countries.
Early years
A series of disputes in the
National Hockey AssociationThe National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA) with
Toronto BlueshirtsThe Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blue Shirts were a professional National Hockey Association team that played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
owner Eddie Livingstone led the other owners, representing the
Montreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
,
Montreal WanderersThe Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
,
Ottawa SenatorsThe Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
, and
Quebec BulldogsThe Quebec Bulldogs were a men's senior-level ice hockey team officially known as the Quebec Hockey Club, later as the Quebec Athletic Club. Their recorded play goes back as far as the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada in 1889, although the Quebec Hockey Club is known to have played since 1880...
to meet at the
Windsor HotelThe Windsor Hotel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is often considered to be the first grand hotel in Canada, and for decades billed itself as "the best in all the Dominion".-Early years:...
in Montreal to talk about the NHA's future. Realizing the league 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. While a full member of the new league, the Bulldogs were unable to play, and the remaining owners created a
new teamThe Toronto Arenas, Toronto Blueshirts or Torontos was a professional men's ice hockey team that played in the first two seasons of the National Hockey League . It was operated by the owner of the Arena Gardens, the Toronto Arena Company...
in Toronto to compete with the Canadiens, Wanderers and Senators. The first games were played three weeks later on December 19. Joe Malone scored five goals in a 7–4 victory for the Canadiens over the Senators on opening night; he finished the 1917–18 season with 44 goals in 20 games. The league nearly collapsed in January 1918 when the
Montreal ArenaThe Montreal Arena, also known as Westmount Arena, was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the corner of St. Catherine Street and Wood Avenue. It was likely one of the first arenas designed expressly for hockey, opening in 1898...
burned down, causing the Wanderers to cease operations and forcing the Canadiens to hastily find a new arena. The NHL continued on as a three-team league until Quebec returned in 1919.
Toronto won the first league title, then defeated the
Pacific Coast Hockey AssociationThe Pacific Coast Hockey Association was a professional men's ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League...
's
Vancouver MillionairesThe Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926...
to win the
1918 Stanley Cup-See also:* 1917–18 NHL season* 1917–18 PCHA season* List of Stanley Cup champions...
The Canadiens won the league title in 1919, however their Stanley Cup Final against the
Seattle MetropolitansThe Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, Washington which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. They won the Stanley Cup in 1917, becoming the first American team to do so...
was abandoned with the series tied after several players became ill as a result of the
Spanish FluThe 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
epidemic that resulted in Montreal defenceman
Joe HallJoseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
's death. Montreal defeated the
Calgary TigersThe Calgary Tigers, often nicknamed the Bengals, were an ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 1920 until 1927 as members of the Big Four League, Western Canada Hockey League and Prairie Hockey League. The Tigers were revived in 1932, playing for a short-lived four years in the...
of the
Western Canada Hockey LeagueThe Western Canada Hockey League , founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League in 1925 and disbanded in 1926.-History:...
(WCHL) in 1924 to win their first Stanley Cup in the NHL. The Hamilton Tigers, who had relocated from Quebec in 1920, won the regular season title in 1924–25 but refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a
C$The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
200 bonus. The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after they defeated the
Toronto St. PatricksThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
in the semi-final. Montreal was then defeated by the
Victoria CougarsThe Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1922 to 1924, and in the Western Hockey League from 1924 to 1926...
for the
1925 Stanley Cup. It was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy, as the Stanley Cup became the
de facto NHL championship in 1926 after the WCHL ceased operations.
The league embarked on rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the
Montreal MaroonsThe Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...
and
Boston BruinsThe Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
in 1924. The Bruins were the first American team in the NHL, while the Maroons played in the newly completed
Montreal ForumThe Montreal Forum was an indoor arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Called "the most storied building in hockey history" by Sporting News, it was home of the National Hockey League's Montreal Maroons from 1924 to 1938 and the Montreal Canadiens from 1926 to 1996...
that the Canadiens made famous in later decades. The
New York AmericansThe New York Americans were a professional ice hockey team based in New York, New York from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League and the second to play in the United States. The team never won the Stanley Cup, but reached the semifinals...
began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, and were joined by the
Pittsburgh PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates were an American professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League , based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1925–26 to 1929–30. The nickname comes from the baseball team also based in the city...
.
Tex RickardGeorge Lewis "Tex" Rickard was an American boxing promoter, founder of the New York Rangers National Hockey League franchise, and builder of the third incarnation of Madison Square Garden in New York City. During the 1920s, Tex Rickard was the leading promoter of the day, and he has been compared...
, owner of
Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
, was so impressed with the popularity of the Americans that he added the
New York RangersThe New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
in 1926. The
Chicago Black HawksThe Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
and
Detroit CougarsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
(later Red Wings) were also added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL.
Conn SmytheConstantine Falkland Cary Smythe MC was a Canadian businessman, soldier and sportsman in ice hockey and horse racing. He is best known as the principal owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League from 1927 to 1961 and as the builder of Maple Leaf Gardens...
purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927, immediately renamed them the Maple Leafs, and built
Maple Leaf GardensMaple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
in 1931.
The
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the onset of World War II took a toll on the league. The Pirates became the
Philadelphia QuakersThe Philadelphia Quakers were an American professional ice hockey team that played only one full season in the National Hockey League , 1930–31, at the Philadelphia Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
in 1930, then folded one year later. The Senators likewise became the
St. Louis EaglesThe St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team and a former member of the National Hockey League based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles existed for only one year, playing in the 1934–35 NHL season....
in 1934, also lasting only one year. The Canadiens were nearly sold and relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1936 before a trio of local owners purchased the team and kept them in Montreal. The Maroons did not survive, however, as they suspended operations in 1938. The Americans were suspended in 1942 due to a lack of players, but never revived. The league was reduced to six teams for the
1942–43 NHL season-NHL awards:-All-Star teams:-Scoring leaders:Note: GP = Games played, G = Goals, A = Assists, PTS = Points, PIM = Penalties in minutes-Leading goaltenders:...
: the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. These six teams remained constant for 25 years, a period known as the
Original SixThe Original Six is a term for the group of six teams that composed the National Hockey League for the 25 seasons between the 1942–43 season and the 1967 NHL Expansion. These six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and the...
.
The first NHL All-Star Game was held in 1934 to benefit
Ace BaileyIrvine Wallace "Ace" Bailey was an ice hockey player who competed for the Toronto Maple Leafs during eight seasons, from 1926–1933.-Playing career:...
, whose career ended on a vicious hit by
Eddie ShoreEdward William Shore was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman, principally for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, and the longtime owner of the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League, iconic for his toughness and defensive skill.Shore won the Hart Trophy as the...
. The second was held in 1937 in support of
Howie MorenzHoward William Morenz was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played centre for three National Hockey League teams: the Montreal Canadiens , the Chicago Black Hawks, and the New York Rangers...
's family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game. His teammate
Aurel JoliatAurèle Émile "Mighty Atom, Little Giant" Joliat was a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens....
said that Morenz "died of a broken heart" when he learned he would never play hockey again.
Maurice "Rocket" RichardJoseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
became the first player to score
50 goals, doing so in a
50 game season"50 goals in 50 games" refers to the act of scoring 50 goals in the first 50 games of a National Hockey League season. Scoring fifty goals in fifty games in the NHL is a rare achievement....
. Ten years later he was suspended for the 1955 Stanley Cup playoffs for punching a linesman, an incident that led to the
Richard RiotThe Richard Riot was a riot on March 17, 1955 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The riot was named after Maurice Richard, the star ice hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League...
. He returned to lead the Canadiens to five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960, a record no team has matched.
Willie O'ReeWillie Eldon O'Ree, OC, ONB is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, known best for being the first black player in the National Hockey League. O'Ree played as a winger for the Boston Bruins...
broke the NHL's colour barrier on January 18, 1958 when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins and became the first black player in league history.
Expansion
By the mid 1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the U.S., and concerns that the
Western Hockey LeagueThe Western Hockey League was a minor pro ice hockey league that operated from 1952 to 1974. Managed for most of its history by Hockey Hall of Fame member Al Leader, it was created out of the merger of the Pacific Coast Hockey League and the Western Canada Senior Hockey League...
was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL to undertake its first
expansionThe National Hockey League undertook a major expansion for the 1967–68 season, adding six new franchises to double the size of the league. This marked the first change in the composition of the league since 1942, when the Brooklyn Americans folded. Thus, the expansion ended the era of the Original...
since the 1920s. The league doubled in size for the 1967–68 season, adding the
Los Angeles KingsThe Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Minnesota North StarsThe Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
,
Philadelphia FlyersThe Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
, California Seals and
St. Louis BluesThe St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade...
. Canadians were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States, and the league responded by adding the
Vancouver CanucksThe Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
in 1970 along with the
Buffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
, who are located on the U.S.-Canadian border. Two years later, the emergence of the newly founded
World Hockey AssociationThe World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
(WHA) led the league to add the
New York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
and
Atlanta FlamesThe Atlanta Flames were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA from 1972 to 1980. The team, a member of the National Hockey League , was relocated to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for the start of the 1980–81 NHL season and were re-named the Calgary Flames. The NHL returned to the...
to keep the rival league out of those markets. In 1974, the
Washington CapitalsThe Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
and
Kansas City ScoutsThe Kansas City Scouts was a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League from 1974–76. In 1976, the franchise relocated to Denver, Colorado and became the Colorado Rockies...
were added, bringing the league up to 18 teams.
The NHL fought the WHA for players, losing 67 to the new league in its first season of 1972–73, including
Bobby HullRobert Marvin "Bobby" Hull, OC is a former Canadian ice hockey player. He is regarded as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time and perhaps the greatest left winger to ever play the game. Hull was famous for his blonde hair, blinding skating speed, and having the hardest shot, earning...
, who signed a ten year, $2.5 million contract with the
Winnipeg JetsThe Winnipeg Jets were a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They began play in the World Hockey Association in 1972, moving to the National Hockey League in 1979 following the collapse of the WHA...
, the largest in hockey history at the time. The NHL attempted to block the defections in court, though a countersuit by the WHA led to a Philadelphia judge ruling the NHL's
reserve clauseThe reserve clause is a term formerly employed in North American professional sports contracts. The reserve clause, contained in all standard player contracts, stated that, upon the contract's expiration the rights to the player were to be retained by the team to which he had been signed...
to be illegal, eliminating the elder league's monopoly over the players. Seven years of battling for players and markets financially damaged both leagues, leading to a 1979
merger agreementThe 1979 merger of the NHL and WHA was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association that resulted in four WHA franchises joining the NHL as expansion franchises for the 1979–80 season...
that saw the WHA cease operations while the NHL absorbed the Jets,
Edmonton OilersThe Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
,
Hartford WhalersThe Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...
and
Quebec NordiquesThe Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...
.
Wayne GretzkyWayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
played one season in the WHA before joining the NHL in 1979–80 with the Oilers. He went on to lead the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988, and set single season records for goals (92 in 1981–82), assists (163 in 1985–86) and points (215 in 1985–86), as well as career records for goals (894), assists (1,963) and points (2,857). He was traded to the Kings in 1988, a deal that dramatically improved the NHL's popularity in the United States, and provided the impetus for the 1990s expansion cycles that saw the addition of the
San Jose SharksThe San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Tampa Bay LightningThe Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
,
Ottawa SenatorsThe Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Mighty Ducks of AnaheimThe Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Florida PanthersThe Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...
,
Nashville PredatorsThe Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
,
Atlanta ThrashersThe Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season...
,
Minnesota WildThe Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
and
Columbus Blue JacketsThe Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
Labour issues
There have been three league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all happening between 1992 and 2005.
The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days, but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. The resulting
collective bargaining agreementThe NHL collective bargaining agreement is the basic contract between the National Hockey League team owners and the NHL Players Association , designed to be arrived at through the typical labor-management negotiations of collective bargaining...
was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15, 2004.
With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15, 2004, league commissioner
Gary BettmanGary Bruce Bettman is the commissioner of the National Hockey League , a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice-president and general counsel to the National Basketball Association...
announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office. The lockout shut down the league for 310 days, the longest in sports history; the NHL was the first professional sports league to lose an entire season. The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the
NHL Players AssociationThe National Hockey League Players' Association or NHLPA is the labor union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the thirty member clubs in the National Hockey League located in the United States and Canada...
countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a
salary capIn professional sports, a salary cap is a cartel agreement between teams that places a limit on the amount of money that can be spent on player salaries. The limit exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both...
, which the union initially said it would not accept. A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the
collective bargaining agreementThe NHL collective bargaining agreement is the basic contract between the National Hockey League team owners and the NHL Players Association , designed to be arrived at through the typical labor-management negotiations of collective bargaining...
for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005–06 season.
On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout NHL season took to the ice with 15 games, and consequently all 30 teams. Of those 15 games, 11 were in front of sell-out crowds. The NHL received record attendance in the 2005–06 season. 20,854,169 fans, an average of 16,955 per game, was a 1.2% increase over the previous mark held in the 2001–02 season. Also, the
Montreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
,
Calgary FlamesThe Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
,
Colorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
,
Minnesota WildThe Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
,
Tampa Bay LightningThe Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
, and the
Vancouver CanucksThe Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
sold out all of their home games; all six Canadian teams played to 98% capacity or better at every home game. 24 of the 30 clubs finished even or ahead of their 2003–04 mark. The
Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
had the highest increase at 33%, mainly because of 18-year-old first overall draft pick
Sidney CrosbySidney Patrick Crosby ONS is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League . Crosby was drafted first overall by the Penguins out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League...
. After losing a season to a labour dispute in 2005, attendance figures for League teams have returned to solid ground; the League's TV audience was slower to rebound because of ESPN's decision to drop the sport from its schedule. The NHL'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 NHL is estimated to earn annual revenue of around $2.27 billion.
The debut of the
Winter ClassicThe NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League on New Year's Day where regular-season games are played outdoors, in areas hosted by NHL teams. Though largely derived from the Heritage Classic outdoor game held in Edmonton in 2003, the Winter Classic has so far only...
, an outdoor regular season NHL game held on
New Year's DayNew Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
2008, was a major success for the league. The game has since become a permanent staple of the NHL schedule. This, along with the transition to a national "Game of the Week" and an annual "Hockey Day in America" regional coverage, has helped increase the NHL's regular season television viewership, which is now carried by NBC and
VersusThe NHL on Versus was the former branding used for National Hockey League games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005-06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of regular season games, playoff games, and select games...
. These improvements led NBC and Versus to sign a ten-year broadcast deal paying $200 million per year for both cable and broadcast rights; the deal will lead to further increases in television coverage on both outlets.
Organizational structure
The NHL Board of Governors is the ruling and governing body of the NHL. In this context, each NHL team is a member of the NHL, 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 JacobsJeremy Maurice Jacobs, Sr. perhaps best known as the owner of the Boston Bruins, is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delaware North Companies...
. The NHL Board of Governors exists to establish the policies of the NHL, and to uphold its constitution. Some of the responsibilities of the NHL Board of Governors include:
- review and approve any rule changes to the game
- hiring and firing of the NHL commissioner
- review and approve the purchase, sale, or relocation of any member club.
- review and approve the salary caps for member clubs.
- review and approve any changes to the structure of the game schedule
The Board of Governors meets twice per year, in June and December, with the exact date and place to be fixed by the NHL Commissioner.
Executives
The chief executive of the NHL is the
commissionerThe National Hockey League Commissioner is the highest-ranking executive officer in the National Hockey League . The position was created in 1993 with Gary Bettman as the first Commissioner...
. Some of the principal decision makers who serve under the authority of the NHL commissioner include:
- Deputy Commissioner & Chief Legal Officer – Bill Daly
William L. "Bill" Daly is an attorney and the Current Deputy Commissioner and chief legal officer of the NHL under Commissioner Gary Bettman. He is also a Hockey Hall of Fame Board Member and former NHL Vice President and Chief Legal Officer. Before joining the NHL front office he worked for the...
- Executive VP & CFO – Craig Harnett
- Chief Operating Officer – John Collins
- Executive VP & Director of Hockey Operations – Colin Campbell
- NHL Enterprises – Ed Horne
- Senior Vice-President of Player Safety - Brendan Shanahan
Brendan Frederick "Shanny" Shanahan is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who currently serves as the National Hockey League's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development and head disciplinarian. Originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils second overall in the 1987 NHL Entry...
Game
Each National Hockey League regulation game is played between two teams and is 60 minutes long. The game is composed of three 20-minute periods with an intermission of either 15½ or 17 minutes (if nationally televised) between periods. Television timeouts are taken at the first stoppage of play after 6, 10, and 14 minutes of elapsed time unless there is a
power play"Power play" is a sporting term used in various games.*In ice hockey, a team is said to be on a power play when at least one opposing player is serving a penalty, and the team has a numerical advantage on the ice...
or the first stoppage is the result of a goal scored. In these cases, the timeout will occur at the first stoppage after the penalty expires or the next stoppage after the goal, respectively. A new rule was introduced for the 2007–08 season that if the first stoppage of play is an
icingIcing in ice hockey occurs when a player shoots the puck across at least two red lines, the opposing team's goal line being the last, and the puck remains untouched. It is, however, not icing if the puck is shot from behind the halfway line into the goal, or when the shot must be played by the...
, the TV timeout does not occur. This is to prevent players from getting a break despite not being allowed to change. At the end of the 60-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time,
overtimeOvertime is a method of determining the winner and loser of an ice hockey match when the scores are tied after regulation. The two main methods are the overtime period and the shootout.-Overtime periods:...
ensues. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, four-player on four-player sudden-death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game. Until the 2005–06 season, if no team was able to score in the five-minute overtime, the game ended in a tie.
Beginning in the 2005–06 season, if the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout. Three players for each team in turn take a
penalty shotIn ice hockey, a penalty shot is a type of penalty awarded when a team loses a clear scoring opportunity on a breakaway because of a foul committed by an opposing player. A player from the non-offending team is given an attempt to score a goal without opposition from any defending players except...
. 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 is awarded only one. Shootout goals and saves are not tracked in hockey statistics; shootout statistics are tracked separately.
Shootouts do not occur during the playoffs. In the playoffs, sudden-death 20-minute five-on-five periods are played until one team scores. While in theory a game could continue indefinitely, only four games have reached five overtime periods, two have reached six, and none have gone beyond six. There are no television timeouts during playoff overtime periods; the only break is to clean the loose ice at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished.
Hockey rink
National Hockey League games are played on a rectangular
hockey rinkAn ice hockey rink is an ice rink that is specifically designed for ice hockey, a team sport. It is rectangular with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall approximately 40 inches high called the boards.- Name origins :...
with rounded corners surrounded by walls and plexiglass. It measures 25.91 by 60.92 metres (85 by 200 ft) in the NHL, while international standards call for a rink measuring 29–30 metres by 60–61 metres (95.14–98.43 ft by 196.85–200.13 ft). The center line divides the ice in half, and is used to judge icing violations. There are two blue lines that divide the rink roughly into thirds, which divide the ice into two attacking and one neutral zone. Near the end of both ends of the rink, there is a thin red
goal line spanning the width of the ice, which is used to judge goals and icing calls.
Starting in the 2005–2006 season, after testing in the
American Hockey LeagueThe American Hockey League is a 30-team professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental circuit for the National Hockey League...
, a trapezoidal area behind each goal net has been introduced. The goaltender can only play the puck within the area between the trapezoids 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 gameDelay of game is a penalty in ice hockey. It results in the offending player spending two minutes in the penalty box. Delay of game is usually called under six circumstances:...
is assessed by the referees.
Rules
- Main articles: National Hockey League rules
While the rules of the National Hockey League follows the general rules of ice hockey, it differs slightly from those used in international games organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation such as the Olympics.-Hockey rink:...
While the National Hockey League follows the general rules of
ice hockeyIce hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
, it differs slightly from those used in international games organized by the
International Ice Hockey FederationThe International Ice Hockey Federation is the worldwide governing body for ice hockey and in-line hockey. It is based in Zurich, Switzerland, and has 70 members...
(IIHF) such as the
OlympicsIce hockey tournaments have been staged at the Olympic Games since 1920. The men's tournament was introduced at the 1920 Summer Olympics and was transferred permanently to the Winter Olympic Games programme in 1924. The women's tournament was first held at the 1998 Winter Olympics...
. Infractions of the rules can lead to either the stoppage of play in the case of
offsideIn ice hockey, the current play is offside if a player on the attacking team enters the attacking zone before the puck itself enters the zone, either carried by a teammate or sent into the attacking zone by an attacking player. If a defending player carries, passes, or otherwise intentionally sends...
and
icingIcing in ice hockey occurs when a player shoots the puck across at least two red lines, the opposing team's goal line being the last, and the puck remains untouched. It is, however, not icing if the puck is shot from behind the halfway line into the goal, or when the shot must be played by the...
calls, or a penalty call for more serious infractions.
During the 2004–05 lockout, the league changed some of the rules regarding being
offsideIn ice hockey, the current play is offside if a player on the attacking team enters the attacking zone before the puck itself enters the zone, either carried by a teammate or sent into the attacking zone by an attacking player. If a defending player carries, passes, or otherwise intentionally sends...
. First, the league removed the "offside pass" or "two-line pass" rule, which required a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player. Furthermore, the league reinstated the "tag-up offside" which allows an attacking player a chance to get back onside by returning to the neutral zone. The changes to the offside rule were among several rule changes intended to increase overall scoring, which had been in decline since the expansion years of the mid-nineties and the increased prevalence of the
neutral zone trapThe neutral zone trap is a defensive strategy used in ice hockey to prevent an opposing team from proceeding through the neutral zone to force turnovers...
.
Another rule difference between the NHL and the IIHF rules concerns how
icingsIcing in ice hockey occurs when a player shoots the puck across at least two red lines, the opposing team's goal line being the last, and the puck remains untouched. It is, however, not icing if the puck is shot from behind the halfway line into the goal, or when the shot must be played by the...
are called. In the NHL, a linesman stops play due to icing if a defending player (other than the goaltender) touches the puck before an attacking player is able to, in contrast to the IIHF rules where play is stopped the moment the puck crosses the goal line. As a result of the rule changes following the 2004–05 lockout, when a team is guilty of icing the puck they are not allowed to make a line change, or skater substitution of any sort (except for a clearly injured player) before the following
faceoffA face-off is the method used to begin play in ice hockey and some other sports. The two teams line up in opposition to each other, and the opposing centres attempt to gain control of the puck after it is dropped between their sticks by an official. One of the referees drops the puck at centre ice...
.
The NHL and IIHF differ also in penalty rules. The NHL, in addition to the minor and double minor penalties called in IIHF games, calls
major penalties which are more dangerous infractions of the rules, such as fighting, and have a duration of five minutes. This is in contrast to the IIHF rule, in which players who fight are ejected from the game. Usually a penalized team cannot replace a player that is penalized on the ice and is thus shorthanded for the duration of the penalty, but if the penalties are coincidental, for example when two players fight, both teams remain at full strength. Also, unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play.
The NHL and the NHLPA created a stringent anti-doping policy in the new
CBAThe NHL collective bargaining agreement is the basic contract between the National Hockey League team owners and the NHL Players Association , designed to be arrived at through the typical labor-management negotiations of collective bargaining...
of September 2005. The policy provides for a 20 game suspension for a first positive test, a 60 game suspension for a second positive test, and a lifetime suspension for a third positive test.
Teams
The National Hockey League originated in 1917 with four Canadian teams, which after a tumultous first quarter century, found stability in the
Original SixThe Original Six is a term for the group of six teams that composed the National Hockey League for the 25 seasons between the 1942–43 season and the 1967 NHL Expansion. These six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and the...
era spanning 1942 – 1967 with four franchises in the United States joining two Canadian clubs. Through a sequence of team expansions,
reductions, and relocations the NHL currently consists of 30 teams, 23 of which are based in the United States and seven in Canada. The
Montreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
are the most successful franchise with 24
Stanley Cup championships (23 as an NHL team, 1 as an NHA team); in the four major professional sports leagues the Montreal Canadiens are only surpassed in the number of championships by the
New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
of
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, who have three more. The next most successful franchise is the
Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
with 13 Stanley Cup championships, but they have not won one since 1967. The
Detroit Red WingsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, with 11 Stanley Cup championships, are the most successful American franchise. The longest streak of winning the Stanley Cup in consecutive years is five, held by the Montreal Canadiens from 1955–56 to 1959–60; the
New York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
(1980–1983) and the Montreal Canadiens (1976–1979) have four-year championship streaks. The 1977 edition of the Montreal Canadiens, the second of four straight Stanley Cup champions, was named by
ESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
as the second greatest sports team of all-time.
Of all the major leagues in North America, the NHL is the only league to field teams that play in two countries' capital cities,
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
,
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
The current league organization divides the teams into two conferences: the
Eastern ConferenceThe Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference....
and the
Western ConferenceThe Western Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Eastern Conference....
. Each conference has three divisions, and each division has five teams. The current organization has roots in the 1998–99 season when a league realignment added two divisions to bring the total number of divisions to six; the current team alignment began with the 2000–01 season when the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the league as expansion teams.
Sixteen of the NHL's thirty teams are located in the
Eastern Time ZoneThe Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
. As of the 2011–12 season, the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are the only Eastern Time teams in the Western Conference, and Winnipeg is the only non-Eastern Time team in the Eastern Conference (an alignment resulting from the franchise's late move out of Atlanta). Realignment is widely expected at some point subsequent to the 2011–12 season.
List of teams
| Division |
Team |
City/Area |
Arena |
Founded |
Joined |
Head Coach |
Captain |
Eastern ConferenceThe Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference....
|
| Atlantic The NHL's Atlantic Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Eastern Conference in a league realignment, the predecessor of which was the Patrick Division. It is the only division in the NHL where all of its current members have won the Stanley Cup at least twice, though only three teams have won...
|
New Jersey DevilsThe New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
NewarkNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, NJNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
|
Prudential Center |
1974* |
Peter DeBoer Peter DeBoer is the head coach of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League and current part-owner of the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League...
|
Zach PariseZachary Justin Parise is an American professional ice hockey left winger of French-Canadian origin and captain of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League . Parise's father, J. P...
|
|
| New York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
>
UniondaleUniondale is a hamlet as well as a suburb of New York City in Nassau County, New York, United States, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead. The population was 24,759 at the 2010 United States Census.-Geography:...
, NYNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
|
Nassau Veterans Memorial ColiseumThe Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, United States. Home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League, the Coliseum is located approximately east of New York City on Long Island...
|
1972 |
Jack Capuano Jack Capuano is the head coach of the New York Islanders.He is a retired former professional ice hockey defenseman who spent parts of three seasons in the National Hockey League in the late 1980s and early 1990s....
|
Mark Streit Mark Streit is a Swiss professional ice hockey defenceman and occasional forward and captain of the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League , also captaining the Swiss national team. He is presently one of five players in the NHL from Switzerland...
|
New York RangersThe New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
|
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, NYNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
|
Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
|
1926 |
John Tortorella Jonathan "John" Tortorella is an American professional ice hockey coach and is now the head coach of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League . He is perhaps best known for his tenure as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning when he led the team to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship...
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Ryan CallahanRyan Callahan is an American ice hockey forward and captain of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:Callahan played one year of high school hockey for Hilton High School...
|
Philadelphia FlyersThe Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
Philadelphia, PAThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
|
Wells Fargo Center |
1967 |
Peter Laviolette Peter Laviolette Jr. is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and is the current head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League...
|
Chris ProngerChristopher Robert Pronger is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and captain for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League . Originally selected 2nd overall by the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, Pronger has played for Hartford, the St...
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Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
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Pittsburgh, PAThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
|
Consol Energy Center |
1967 |
Dan Bylsma Dan Bylsma is the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League as of February 15, 2009, replacing Michel Therrien. Prior to coaching the Penguins, he played as a forward in the NHL and coached in the American Hockey League . He was drafted in the sixth round of the 1989...
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Sidney CrosbySidney Patrick Crosby ONS is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League . Crosby was drafted first overall by the Penguins out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League...
|
| Northeast The NHL's Northeast Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Eastern Conference in a league realignment, the predecessor of which was the Adams Division...
|
Boston BruinsThe Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
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Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, MAThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
|
TD Garden |
1924 |
Claude Julien Claude Julien is Canadian professional ice hockey head coach of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League . He previously served as the head coach for the Montreal Canadiens and the New Jersey Devils...
|
Zdeno CharaZdeno Chára is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenseman. He is the captain of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and won the Norris Trophy while playing for them in 2008–09. At 6 ft 9 , he is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL...
|
Buffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
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BuffaloBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, NYNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
|
First Niagara Center |
1970 |
Lindy RuffLindy Cameron Ruff is the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. Ruff played in the NHL for the Sabres and New York Rangers as a left winger/defenceman. Currently, he is the longest-tenured head coach in the NHL.-Playing career:Ruff was chosen in the second round, 32nd...
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Jason PominvilleJason John Pominville is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey right winger and the captain of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
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Montreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
|
MontrealMontreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, QCQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
|
Bell CentreThe Bell Centre , formerly known as the Molson Centre , is a sports and entertainment complex in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It opened on March 16, 1996 after nearly three years under construction...
|
1909 |
1917 |
Jacques Martin |
Brian GiontaBrian Joseph Gionta is an American professional ice hockey player and captain of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League , and is the second American-born captain of the Canadiens and its first sole American-born captain...
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Ottawa SenatorsThe Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, ONOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
|
Scotiabank Place Scotiabank Place is a multi-purpose arena, located in Kanata, a suburban district of Ottawa, Ontario. It is home to the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League. It has also hosted the Canadian University Men's Basketball Championship...
|
1992 |
Paul MacLean |
Daniel AlfredssonDaniel Alfredsson is a Swedish professional ice hockey player. He is the captain of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League . He is considered a leader by example and has been compared to former Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman in his value to the Senators...
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Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
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TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, ONOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
|
Air Canada CentreThe Air Canada Centre is a multi-purpose indoor sporting arena located on Bay Street in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.The arena is popularly known as the ACC or the Hangar ....
|
1917 |
Ron Wilson |
Dion PhaneufDion Phaneuf is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League...
|
| Southeast The NHL's Southeast Division was formed in 1998 as part of the Eastern Conference due to expansion.The Southeast Division is the only one of the six divisions that does not have a precursor from the Wales/Campbell conference era ....
|
Carolina HurricanesThe Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
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RaleighRaleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
, NCNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
|
RBC Center |
1972 |
1979* |
Kirk Muller Kirk Christopher Muller is a retired professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League for 19 seasons from 1984–85 until 2002–03...
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Eric StaalEric Craig Staal is a Canadian ice hockey player and the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League...
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Florida PanthersThe Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in Sunrise, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their games at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise and are the...
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Sunrise -Overview:Sunrise is a city in southwestern Broward County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated in 1961 by Norman Johnson – a developer whose World Famous Upside-Down House attracted buyers to what was then a remote area...
, FLFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
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BankAtlantic CenterThe BankAtlantic Center is an indoor arena located in Sunrise, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and adjacent to the popular Sawgrass Mills Mall.The arena features 70 suites & 2,623 club seats.The arena is directly accessible from the Sawgrass Expressway...
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1993 |
Kevin Dineen Kevin William Dineen is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently the head coach of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League.-St. Michael's Buzzers:As a seventeen year old, Dineen played with the St...
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Vacant |
Tampa Bay LightningThe Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
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TampaTampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, FLFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
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St. Pete Times ForumThe St. Pete Times Forum is an arena in Tampa, Florida, that has been used for ice hockey, basketball, and arena football games, as well as concerts....
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1992 |
Guy Boucher Guy Boucher is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League and a former hockey player.-Playing years:Before his coaching years, Boucher played right wing with the McGill Redmen between 1991 and 1995...
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Vincent LecavalierVincent Lecavalier is a Canadian professional hockey center and captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League .-Rimouski Océanic:...
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Washington CapitalsThe Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
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WashingtonWashington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, D.C. |
Verizon CenterVerizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications, and has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies...
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1974 |
Dale Hunter Dale Robert Hunter is a former professional ice hockey player and current head coach of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League.-NHL career:...
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Alexander OvechkinAlexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League...
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Winnipeg JetsThe Winnipeg Jets were a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They began play in the World Hockey Association in 1972, moving to the National Hockey League in 1979 following the collapse of the WHA...
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WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, MBManitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
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MTS Centre The MTS Centre is an indoor sports arena and entertainment venue in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and home of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League. It is located on the former Eaton's site and is owned and operated by True North Sports & Entertainment. The 440,000 square feet ...
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1999* |
Claude Noel Claude Noël is a former Canadian ice hockey player and the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League. Prior to joining Winnipeg, he was head coach of the Manitoba Moose of the AHL...
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Andrew LaddAndrew Ladd is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger and captain of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League . He was originally drafted in 2004 by the Carolina Hurricanes and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2006...
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Western Conference The Western Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Eastern Conference....
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| Central The NHL's Central Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Western Conference in a league realignment, the predecessor of which was the Norris Division.The Central Division consists of the Western Conference's easternmost teams.-Current lineup:...
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Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
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ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, ILIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
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United CenterThe United Center is an indoor sports arena located in Chicago. It is named after its corporate sponsor, United Airlines. The United Center is home to both the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League...
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1926 |
Joel Quenneville Joel Norman Quenneville is the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks professional ice hockey team. He is a former ice hockey defenseman and former head coach of the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues...
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Jonathan ToewsJonathan Bryan Toews is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre who plays for and is captain of the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League . He is currently the youngest captain in the NHL, having been appointed in 2008....
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Columbus Blue JacketsThe Columbus Blue Jackets are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio, United States. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
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ColumbusColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, OHOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
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Nationwide Arena Nationwide Arena is a multi-purpose arena, in Columbus, Ohio, USA. It opened in 2000 and is the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets, of the NHL....
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2000 |
Scott Arniel Scott William Arniel , is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League . Arniel was awarded the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as American Hockey League coach of the year in 2009, his third year as an AHL coach...
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Rick NashRick Nash is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger and captain of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League ....
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Detroit Red WingsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
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Detroit, MIMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
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Joe Louis Arena Joe Louis Arena, nicknamed The Joe and JLA is a hockey arena located at 600 Civic Center Drive in Detroit, Michigan. It is the home of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Completed in 1979 at a cost of $57 million, Joe Louis Arena is named after boxer and former heavyweight...
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1926 |
Mike BabcockMichael "Mike" Babcock, Jr. is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and former player. He serves as head coach of the Red Wings. He also served as the head coach of Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver...
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Nicklas LidstromNicklas Erik Lidström is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, and is their captain...
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| Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
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Nashville, TNTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
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Bridgestone Arena |
1998 |
Barry Trotz Barry Trotz is the head coach of the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators. He was previously the coach of the American Hockey League's Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates, with whom he won an AHL championship in 1994. That same year, he won the Louis A.R...
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Shea WeberShea Michael Weber is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League . An NHL All-Star and Olympic gold medalist, he is the captain of the Nashville Predators....
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St. Louis BluesThe St. Louis Blues are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team is named after the famous W. C. Handy song "St. Louis Blues", and plays in the 19,150-seat Scottrade...
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St. LouisSt. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, MOMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
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Scottrade Center Scottrade Center is a 19,150 seat arena located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, opened in 1994. It is the home of the St...
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1967 |
Ken Hitchcock Ken Hitchcock also known as "Hitch" is an NHL hockey coach and pro scout, currently coaching the St. Louis Blues.-Early Years:...
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David Backes David Anthony Backes is an American professional ice hockey right winger and captain of the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League ....
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| Northwest The NHL's Northwest Division was formed in 1998 as part of the Western Conference due to expansion. Like the Pacific Division, the Northwest Division is also a descendant of the former Smythe Division, as three of its Canadian teams played in that division from 1981–1993...
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Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
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CalgaryCalgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, ABAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
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Scotiabank Saddledome |
1972* |
Brent Sutter Brent Colin Sutter is a retired National Hockey League player and current head coach of the Calgary Flames. Selected by the New York Islanders 17th overall at the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, Sutter played over 1,000 games for the Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks during his 18-year career. He won the...
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Jarome IginlaJarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . A six-time NHL All-Star, he is the Flames' all-time leader in goals, points, and games played, and is second in assists to Al MacInnis...
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Colorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
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Denver, COColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
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Pepsi CenterPepsi Center is a multi-purpose arena in Denver, Colorado, United States. The building is home to the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association, the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League, and the Colorado Mammoth of the National Lacrosse League...
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1972 |
1979* |
Joe Sacco |
Milan HejdukMilan Hejduk is a Czech professional ice hockey forward and the captain for the Colorado Avalanche of the National Hockey League .- Playing career :...
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Edmonton OilersThe Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
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EdmontonEdmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, ABAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
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Rexall Place Rexall Place is an indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada situated on the north side of Northlands. It is currently the home to the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League, the Edmonton Rush of the National Lacrosse League and the Edmonton Oil Kings of the WHL...
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1972 |
1979 |
Tom Renney Thomas Renney is a Canadian ice hockey Head Coach for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League . He has previously coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks....
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Shawn Horcoff Shawn Horcoff is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League . He was selected in the fourth round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, 99th overall, by the Oilers, the team with which he has spent his entire NHL career...
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Minnesota WildThe Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
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St. Paul, MNMinnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
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Xcel Energy CenterThe Xcel Energy Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named for its locally-based corporate sponsor Xcel Energy. With an official capacity of 18,064, the arena has four spectator levels: one suite level and three general seating levels. The arena is owned by the...
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2000 |
Mike Yeo Michael Yeo is the current head coach of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League. He was formerly an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins and head coach of the Houston Aeros.-Career:...
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Mikko Koivu Mikko Sakari Koivu is a Finnish professional ice hockey center and captain of the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League...
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Vancouver CanucksThe Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
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VancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, BCBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
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Rogers Arena |
1970 |
Alain Vigneault |
Henrik SedinHenrik Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . His identical twin brother Daniel also plays for the Canucks. Having played together throughout their careers, the pair are known for their effectiveness playing off one...
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| Pacific The National Hockey League's Pacific Division is one of three divisions that make up the Western Conference. It was formed in 1993 as part of a league realignment...
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Anaheim DucksThe Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
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AnaheimAnaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
, CACalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
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Honda Center |
1993 |
Bruce BoudreauBruce Allan Boudreau is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach and current head coach of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League . As a player, Boudreau played professionally for 20 seasons, logging 141 games in the NHL and 30 games in the World Hockey Association...
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Ryan GetzlafRyan Getzlaf is a Canadian professional ice hockey player. He is a centre and the captain of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League . He grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada and he played junior hockey with the Calgary Hitmen...
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Dallas StarsThe Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
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Dallas, TXTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
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American Airlines CenterThe American Airlines Center is a multi-purpose arena, located in the Victory Park neighborhood, near downtown Dallas, Texas.It is home to the Dallas Mavericks of the NBA, and the Dallas Stars of the NHL....
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1967* |
Glen Gulutzan Glen Gulutzan is the head coach of the NHL Dallas Stars.- Playing career :Gulutzan played junior hockey with the Moose Jaw Warriors, Brandon Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League from 1986–92. After not playing competitive hockey for four seasons, Gulutzan signed with the...
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Brenden Morrow Brenden Morrow is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League . Morrow played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League for the Portland Winter Hawks. During his junior career, he helped Portland win the Memorial Cup during the...
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Los Angeles KingsThe Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
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Los Angeles Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, CACalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
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Staples CenterStaples Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. Opening on October 17, 1999, it is one of the major sporting facilities in the Greater Los Angeles...
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1967 |
Terry Murray Terry Rodney Murray is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player, and current head coach of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings...
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Dustin Brown |
Phoenix CoyotesThe Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....
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Glendale Glendale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, located about nine miles northwest from Downtown Phoenix. According to 2010 Census Bureau, the population of the city is 226,721....
, AZArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
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Jobing.com Arena |
1972 |
1979* |
Dave Tippett David G. Tippett is a National Hockey League head coach, currently of the Phoenix Coyotes. He is the 6th person to be the head coach of the Coyotes, and the 21st coach in the Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets franchise. He is the former head coach of the Dallas Stars...
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Shane DoanShane Albert Doan is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and captain of the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League . Doan is the longest tenured player on the club, having played all fourteen of his NHL seasons with the original Winnipeg Jets/Phoenix Coyotes franchise...
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San Jose SharksThe San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
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San JoseSan Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, CACalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
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HP Pavilion at San Jose |
1991 |
Todd McLellan Todd McLellan is a Canadian former ice hockey player and current head coach of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League.- Playing career :...
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Joe ThorntonJoseph Eric Thornton is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the San Jose Sharks of the National Hockey League . He was selected first overall by the Boston Bruins in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and went on to play seven seasons with the club, five as its Captain. During the...
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Notes
Defunct and relocated teams
There have been 19 NHL teams that either folded or relocated. The first team to disband was the
Montreal WanderersThe Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
in 1918, due to a lack of players. The first team to relocate was the Quebec Athletic Club, who relocated to
Hamilton, OntarioHamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
in 1920 to become the Hamilton Tigers. NHL president
Frank Calder-External links:*...
stripped the franchise from owner Mike Quinn and sold it to a Hamilton-based company. Three franchises succumbed to the economic pressures of the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
: the
Philadelphia QuakersPhiladelphia Quakers may refer to:*Members of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends .*Philadelphia Phillies, an American baseball team originally known as the Philadelphia Quakers...
,
St. Louis EaglesThe St. Louis Eagles were a professional ice hockey team and a former member of the National Hockey League based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles existed for only one year, playing in the 1934–35 NHL season....
, and
Montreal MaroonsThe Montreal Maroons was a professional men's ice hockey team in the National Hockey League . They played in the NHL from 1924 to 1938, winning the Stanley Cup in 1926 and 1935...
. The
Brooklyn AmericansThe New York Americans were a professional ice hockey team based in New York, New York from 1925 to 1942. They were the third expansion team in the history of the National Hockey League and the second to play in the United States. The team never won the Stanley Cup, but reached the semifinals...
were the last team to fold in the NHL. In the early 1940s, the franchise was struggling financially, and was suspended prior to the due to a lack of players during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The franchise formally ceased operations in 1946, and their demise began a period in the
league's historyThe Original Six era of the National Hockey League began in 1942 with the demise of the Brooklyn Americans, reducing the NHL to six teams. The NHL, comprising the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs, remained stable...
known as the "
Original SixThe Original Six is a term for the group of six teams that composed the National Hockey League for the 25 seasons between the 1942–43 season and the 1967 NHL Expansion. These six teams are the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and the...
".
The
1967 NHL expansionThe National Hockey League undertook a major expansion for the 1967–68 season, adding six new franchises to double the size of the league. This marked the first change in the composition of the league since 1942, when the Brooklyn Americans folded. Thus, the expansion ended the era of the Original...
added six teams, but one of those teams, the
California Golden SealsThe California Golden Seals were a team in the National Hockey League from 1967–76. Initially named California Seals, the team was renamed Oakland Seals part-way through the 1967–68 season, and then to California Golden Seals in 1970. The Seals were one of six teams added to the league as part of...
, moved to become the
Cleveland BaronsThe name Cleveland Barons has been used by three professional hockey teams and one junior team.*Cleveland Barons , the National Hockey League team that played between 1976 and 1978...
before merging with the
Minnesota North StarsThe Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, and the team's colors for most of its history were green, yellow, gold and white...
in 1978 when both clubs were on the verge of folding. With six more expansion teams in the 1970s, and the 1979
NHL–WHA mergerThe 1979 merger of the NHL and WHA was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association that resulted in four WHA franchises joining the NHL as expansion franchises for the 1979–80 season...
, the league had 21 teams at the end of the decade. Three of the four teams from the merger have since relocated to other cities: the
Quebec NordiquesThe Quebec Nordiques were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The Nordiques played in the World Hockey Association and the National Hockey League...
, the original Winnipeg Jets, and the
Hartford WhalersThe Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...
. The Nordiques became the
Colorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
in 1995, while the Jets became the
Phoenix CoyotesThe Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....
in 1996, with the Whalers becoming the
Carolina HurricanesThe Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
a year later.
During the 2010-11 playoffs, the
Atlanta ThrashersThe Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League on June 25, 1997, and became the league's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL season...
franchise was acquired by True North Sports and Entertainment, who moved the team to
WinnipegWinnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
for
2011–12The 2011–12 NHL season is the 95th season of operation of the National Hockey League . It is the fifth consecutive season that opens in Europe with NHL Premiere games. As with the previous season, three events are scheduled: two games will be held in Stockholm, Sweden; one game in Helsinki,...
, giving the team the revived name
Winnipeg JetsThe Winnipeg Jets were a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. They began play in the World Hockey Association in 1972, moving to the National Hockey League in 1979 following the collapse of the WHA...
.
Season structure
The National Hockey League season is divided into an exhibition season (September), a regular season (from the first week in October through early to mid April) and a postseason (the
Stanley Cup playoffsThe Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records...
). During the exhibition season, teams may play other teams from the NHL. They also often compete against European clubs, such as clubs from the Russian
KHLThe Kontinental Hockey League is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia founded in 2008. As of 2009, it is ranked as the strongest hockey league in Europe....
. During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The Stanley Cup playoffs, which go from April to the beginning of June, is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
champion. Beginning in 2007, the NHL regular season has begun in Europe while teams not involved complete their exhibition schedule.
In the regular season, each team plays 82 games; 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Each team plays 24 games in its
divisionIn sports, a division is a group of teams who compete against each other for a championship.-League system:In sports using a league system , a division consists a group of teams who play a sport at a similar competitive level...
—6 against each divisional opponent—and 40 games against non-divisional intra-conference opponents—4 games against every team in the other two divisions of its conference. Each team plays every team in the other conference at least once—one game each against 12 teams and two games against the remaining 3 teams. For three seasons between 2005 and 2008, teams played 32 games within their division—8 games against each team in the division—and 10 inter-conference games—1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference. The two divisions faced from the opposite conference were rotated every year, much like
interleague playInterleague play is the term used to describe regular season Major League Baseball games played between teams in different leagues, introduced in . Before the 1997 season, teams in the American League and National League did not meet during the regular season...
in
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. As with the current system, each team played 4 games against the other 10 teams in its conference outside of its division.
Unlike a majority of other North American sports leagues, the NHL's regular season standings are based on a point system instead of pure win-loss-tie percentages. Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation. Among major professional sports leagues, the NHL is the only one to award a team points for losing in overtime.
At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. The league's overall leader is awarded the
Presidents' TrophyThe Presidents' Trophy is an award presented by the National Hockey League to the team that finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. If two teams tie for the most points, then the trophy goes to the team with the most wins. The winning team is also awarded C$350,000...
. The three division champions along with the five other teams in each conference with the next highest number of points, for a total of 8 teams in each conference, qualify for the
playoffThe playoffs, postseason, or finals of a sports league are a game or series of games played after the regular season by the top competitors, usually but not always with a single-elimination system, to determine the league champion or a similar accolade.In the U.S...
s. The division winners are seeded one through three (even if a non-division winner has a higher point total), and the next five teams with the best records in the conference are seeded four through eight. The
Stanley Cup playoffsThe Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records...
is an elimination
tournamentA tournament is a competition involving a relatively large number of competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:...
, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The first round of the playoffs, or conference quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the second round, or conference semifinals, the NHL re-seeds the teams, with the top remaining conference seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the third round, the conference finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
Finals.
In each round the higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the
home-ice advantageIn team sports, the term home advantage describes the advantage–usually a psychological advantage–that the home team is said to have over the visiting team as a result of playing in familiar facilities and in front of supportive fans...
. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue—the first and second, and, when necessary, the fifth and seventh games—with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue. In the Stanley Cup Finals, the team with the most points during the regular season is given home-ice advantage, regardless of where each team ranks in their own conference.
Trophies and awards
Total Stanley Cup championships
Defunct teams not included.
Team |
Titles |
Montreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
|
24* |
Toronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
13 |
Detroit Red WingsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
|
11 |
Boston BruinsThe Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
|
6 |
Edmonton OilersThe Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
|
5 |
| Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
|
4 |
New York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
4 |
New York RangersThe New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
|
4 |
New Jersey DevilsThe New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
3 |
Pittsburgh PenguinsThe Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
|
3 |
Colorado AvalancheThe Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
|
2 |
Philadelphia FlyersThe Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
2 |
Anaheim DucksThe Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
|
1 |
| Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
|
1 |
Carolina HurricanesThe Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
|
1 |
Dallas StarsThe Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
|
1 |
Tampa Bay LightningThe Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
|
1 |
* One championship was before the formation of the NHL.
|
The National Hockey League presents a number of trophies each year. The most prestigious team award is the
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, which is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team that has the most points in the regular season is awarded the
Presidents' TrophyThe Presidents' Trophy is an award presented by the National Hockey League to the team that finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. If two teams tie for the most points, then the trophy goes to the team with the most wins. The winning team is also awarded C$350,000...
. There are also numerous trophies that are awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; they include, among others, the
Art Ross TrophyThe Art Ross Trophy is awarded to the National Hockey League player who leads the league in scoring points at the end of the regular season. It was presented to the NHL by former player, general manager, and head coach Art Ross. The trophy has been awarded 61 times to 25 players since its inception...
for the league scoring champion (goals and assists), the
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard TrophyThe Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, also known as the Maurice Richard Trophy is awarded annually to the leading goal scorer in the National Hockey League . It was donated to the NHL by the Montreal Canadiens hockey club in and is named in honour of the legendary Montreal Canadiens right winger...
for the goal-scoring leader, and the
William M. Jennings TrophyThe William M. Jennings Trophy is an annual National Hockey League award given to "the goalkeeper having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. Winners are selected based on regular-season play." From 1946 until 1981, the Vezina Trophy had been awarded...
for the goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against them. For the 2010–11 season these statistics-based trophies were awarded to
Daniel SedinDaniel Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League , and serves as an alternate captain for the Canucks during home games. His identical twin brother Henrik also plays for the Canucks, and is the team captain...
of the Vancouver Canucks,
Corey PerryCorey Perry is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League . Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League , he captured a Memorial Cup with the London Knights and a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships during...
of the Anaheim Ducks, and, dually,
Roberto LuongoRoberto Luongo is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . Born in Montreal, Quebec, he is of Italian and Irish ancestry. He employs the butterfly style of goaltending...
and
Cory SchneiderCory Franklin Schneider is an American professional ice hockey goaltender with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League .Schneider was selected in the first round, 26th overall, by the Canucks in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft...
of the Vancouver Canucks respectively.
The other player trophies are voted on by the
Professional Hockey Writers' AssociationThe Professional Hockey Writers' Association is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites...
or the team general managers. These individual awards are presented at a formal ceremony held in late June after the playoffs have concluded. The most prestigious individual award is the
Hart Memorial TrophyThe Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
which is awarded annually to the
Most Valuable PlayerIn sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
; the voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to judge the player who is the most valuable to his team during the regular season. The
Vezina TrophyThe Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team...
is awarded annually to the person deemed the best goalkeeper as voted on by the general managers of the teams in the NHL. The
James Norris Memorial TrophyThe James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top "defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position". The James Norris Memorial Trophy has been awarded 55 times to 23 different players since its beginnings in...
is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top defenceman, the
Calder Memorial TrophyThe Calder Memorial Trophy is an annual award given "to the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition in the National Hockey League." The Rookie of the Year trophy has been awarded 79 times since its creation for the 1936–37 NHL season...
is awarded annually to the top rookie, and the
Lady Byng Memorial TrophyThe Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, formerly known as the Lady Byng Trophy, is presented each year to the National Hockey League "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability"...
is awarded to the player deemed to combine the highest degree of skill and sportsmanship; all three of these awards are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
In addition to the regular season awards, the
Conn Smythe TrophyThe Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the player judged most valuable to his team during the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup playoffs. The Conn Smythe Trophy has been awarded 46 times to 40 players since the 1964–65 NHL season...
is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league wins the
Jack Adams AwardThe Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." It has been awarded 37 times to 32 different coaches. The winner is selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association at the end of the...
as selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association. The National Hockey League publishes the names of the top three vote getters for all awards, and then names the award winner during the NHL Awards Ceremony.
One interesting aspect for the trophies in the NHL is that the same trophy is reused every year for each of its awards. The
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
, much like its
CFLThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
counterpartThe Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, is unique in this aspect, as opposed to the
Vince Lombardi TrophyThe Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl.-History:...
, Larry O'Brien Trophy, and
Commissioner's TrophyThe Commissioner's Trophy is presented each year by the Commissioner of Baseball to the Major League Baseball team that wins the World Series. Recent trophy designs contain flags representing each team in North America's top two leagues, the National League and the American League...
, which have new ones made every year for that year's champion. Despite only one trophy being used, the names of the teams winning and the players are engraved every year on the Stanley Cup. The same can also be said for the other trophies reissued every year.
Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the
Hockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
. Players cannot enter until three years have passed since their last professional game, the shortest such time period of any major sport. One unique consequence has been Hall of Fame members (specifically,
Gordie HoweGordon "Gordie" Howe, OC is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League , and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association . Howe is often referred to as Mr...
,
Guy LafleurGuy Damien "The Flower" / "Le Démon Blond" Lafleur, OC, CQ is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player who is widely regarded as one of the most naturally gifted and popular players ever to play professional ice hockey...
, and
Mario LemieuxMario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...
) coming out of retirement to play once more. If a player was deemed significant enough, the three-year wait would be waived; only ten individuals have been honoured in this manner. In 1999,
Wayne GretzkyWayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
joined the Hall and became the last player to have the three-year restriction waived. After his induction, the Hall of Fame announced that Gretzky would be the last to have the waiting period waived.
Notable active players
The top five point scorers in the
2010–11 seasonThe 2010–11 NHL season was the 94th season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the fourth consecutive season that opened in Europe with NHL Premiere . A record three events were scheduled, all in previous NHL Premiere cities: Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Prague, Czech...
were
Daniel SedinDaniel Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League , and serves as an alternate captain for the Canucks during home games. His identical twin brother Henrik also plays for the Canucks, and is the team captain...
(104),
Martin St. LouisMartin St. Louis is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger and alternate captain currently playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
(99),
Corey PerryCorey Perry is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League . Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League , he captured a Memorial Cup with the London Knights and a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships during...
(98),
Henrik SedinHenrik Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . His identical twin brother Daniel also plays for the Canucks. Having played together throughout their careers, the pair are known for their effectiveness playing off one...
(94), and
Steven StamkosSteven Stamkos is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, an alternate captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League . Stamkos was the first overall pick in the 2006 OHL Entry Draft, from the Markham Waxers of the OMHA. Playing with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey...
(91). The top goal scorers were
Corey PerryCorey Perry is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League . Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League , he captured a Memorial Cup with the London Knights and a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships during...
(50),
Steven StamkosSteven Stamkos is a Canadian professional ice hockey player, an alternate captain for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League . Stamkos was the first overall pick in the 2006 OHL Entry Draft, from the Markham Waxers of the OMHA. Playing with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey...
(45),
Jarome IginlaJarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . A six-time NHL All-Star, he is the Flames' all-time leader in goals, points, and games played, and is second in assists to Al MacInnis...
(43),
Daniel SedinDaniel Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League , and serves as an alternate captain for the Canucks during home games. His identical twin brother Henrik also plays for the Canucks, and is the team captain...
(41), and
Ryan KeslerRyan James Kesler is an American professional ice hockey center for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . He serves as an alternate captain for the Canucks during home games. Selected in the first round, 23rd overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Kesler has...
(41). The top four scoring defencemen were
Lubomir VisnovskyĽubomír Višňovský is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
,
Nicklas LidstromNicklas Erik Lidström is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, and is their captain...
,
Keith YandleKeith Yandle is an American ice hockey defenseman and alternate captain for the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes.-Amateur:...
, and
Dustin ByfuglienDustin Ray Byfuglien is an American professional ice hockey player and an alternate captain of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League. His known nickname is "Big Buff," made up by his teammates...
. The top goaltenders (by wins) were
Roberto LuongoRoberto Luongo is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . Born in Montreal, Quebec, he is of Italian and Irish ancestry. He employs the butterfly style of goaltending...
(38),
Carey PriceCarey Price is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League . Price was the Canadiens' first round selection in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft...
(38),
Miikka KiprusoffMiikka Sakari Kiprusoff is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . He was selected in the fifth round, 116th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He has also played for TPS of the Finnish SM-liiga...
(37),
Cam WardCameron Kenneth Ward is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League . Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, he was raised in Sherwood Park, Alberta...
(37), and
Jimmy HowardJames "Jimmy" Russell Howard III is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League...
(37).
Origin of players
In addition to Canadian and American born and trained players, who have historically composed a large majority of NHL rosters, the NHL also draws players from an expanding pool of other nations where organized and professional hockey is played. A steady stream of European players began entering the league in the 1970s, continuing into the 1980s. Most of the first wave of Europeans came from Sweden and Finland, with a small number of defectors from the
Soviet BlocThe term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
. Since the
collapseThe Revolutions of 1989 were the revolutions which overthrew the communist regimes in various Central and Eastern European countries.The events began in Poland in 1989, and continued in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and...
of the Soviet Bloc, political/ideological restrictions on the movement of hockey players from this region have disappeared, leading to a large influx of players mostly from Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia into the NHL. Swedes, Finns, and other Western Europeans, who were always free to move to North America, came to the league in greater numbers than before. Many of the league's top players today come from these European countries, including:
Ilya KovalchukIlya Valerevich Kovalchuk is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger who is an alternate captain of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. Drafted first overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers, he began his NHL career in 2001–02 with Atlanta and was...
,
Henrik SedinHenrik Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League . His identical twin brother Daniel also plays for the Canucks. Having played together throughout their careers, the pair are known for their effectiveness playing off one...
,
Daniel SedinDaniel Sedin is a Swedish professional ice hockey winger with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League , and serves as an alternate captain for the Canucks during home games. His identical twin brother Henrik also plays for the Canucks, and is the team captain...
,
Henrik ZetterbergHenrik “Zäta" Zetterberg is a Swedish professional ice hockey center and alternate captain currently playing for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League...
,
Marian HossaMarián Hossa is a Slovak professional ice hockey player who currently plays for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League . Hossa was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft; after playing for the Senators, he played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and...
,
Nicklas LidstromNicklas Erik Lidström is a Swedish professional ice hockey defenseman who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, and is their captain...
,
Miikka KiprusoffMiikka Sakari Kiprusoff is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . He was selected in the fifth round, 116th overall by the San Jose Sharks in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft. He has also played for TPS of the Finnish SM-liiga...
,
Teemu SelanneTeemu Ilmari Selänne nicknamed "The Finnish Flash" is a Finnish professional ice hockey winger, an alternate captain of the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League . An offensive player known for his skill and speed, Selanne has led the NHL in goal-scoring three times and has been named to...
,
Zdeno CharaZdeno Chára is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenseman. He is the captain of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League and won the Norris Trophy while playing for them in 2008–09. At 6 ft 9 , he is the tallest player ever to play in the NHL...
,
Pavel DatsyukPavel Valerievich Datsyuk is a professional ice hockey player from Russia and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League . He is known for his stick-handling and is considered the best two-way forward in the game today, having won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in the...
,
Evgeni MalkinEvgeni "Geno" Vladimirovich Malkin is a Russian professional ice hockey center and alternate captain for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League ....
, and
Alexander OvechkinAlexander Mikhaylovich Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League...
. European players were drafted and signed by NHL teams in an effort to bring in more "skilled offensive players", although recently there has been a decline in European players as more American players enter the league. The addition of European players changed the style of play in the NHL and European style hockey has been integrated in to the NHL game. Conversely Canadian coaches and the Canadian style of play have been embraced by many European countries. Because of the continued success of Canadian teams in world tournaments many other countries are trying to model their development programs after
Hockey CanadaHockey Canada, formally known as the Canadian Hockey Association, is the national governing body of ice hockey in Canada and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation. Hockey Canada controls a vast majority of ice hockey in Canada, with a few exceptions...
's. In the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic years, the league voluntarily suspended its all star game and expanded the traditional all star break to allow NHL players an opportunity to represent their respective countries. The
2010 Winter OlympicsThe 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
were held in Vancouver, an NHL city. Currently, as of late 2010 there is no agreement in place between the NHL and the IOC regarding the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Russia. The NHL has players from 18 different countries, with the majority (52.0 percent during the 2007–08 NHL season) coming from Canada.
The following table shows the origins of every player (skaters and goaltenders) who played an NHL regular season game in the given year. The table follows the
Hockey Hall of FameThe Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
convention of classifying players by the currently existing countries in which their birthplaces are located, without regard to their citizenship or where they were trained.
| Country |
Players
(02–03) |
% |
Players
(03–04) |
% |
Players
(05–06) |
% |
Players
(06–07) |
% |
Players
(07–08) |
% |
Players
(08–09The 2008–09 NHL season was the 92nd season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the first season since prior to the 2004–05 lockout in which every team played each other at least once during the season, following three seasons where teams only played against two divisions in the...
) |
% |
Players
(09–10The 2009–10 NHL season was the 93rd season of operation of the National Hockey League , and the 100th season since the founding of the predecessor National Hockey Association . It ran from October 1, 2009, including four games in Europe on October 2 and 3—until April 11, 2010, with the 2010...
) |
% |
Players
(10–11The 2010–11 NHL season was the 94th season of operation of the National Hockey League . It was the fourth consecutive season that opened in Europe with NHL Premiere . A record three events were scheduled, all in previous NHL Premiere cities: Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Prague, Czech...
) |
% |
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
|
1 |
0.1 |
3 |
0.3 |
3 |
0.3 |
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
3 |
0.3 |
3 |
0.3 |
| Bahamas |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
BelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
|
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
3 |
0.3 |
3 |
0.3 |
4 |
0.4 |
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
BruneiBrunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
|
488 |
49.8 |
548 |
54.3 |
517 |
53.8 |
495 |
52.7 |
489 |
52.0 |
509 |
52.3 |
520 |
53.9 |
521 |
53.3 |
CroatiaCroatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
|
73 |
7.4 |
74 |
7.3 |
65 |
6.8 |
65 |
6.9 |
59 |
6.3 |
57 |
5.9 |
48 |
5.0 |
42 |
4.3 |
DenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
2 |
0.2 |
6 |
0.6 |
6 |
0.6 |
6 |
0.6 |
England, United KingdomEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
|
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
|
38 |
3.9 |
38 |
3.8 |
39 |
4.1 |
42 |
4.5 |
40 |
4.3 |
42 |
4.3 |
39 |
4.0 |
30 |
3.1 |
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
|
6 |
0.6 |
6 |
0.6 |
8 |
0.8 |
8 |
0.8 |
9 |
1.0 |
9 |
0.9 |
10 |
1.0 |
9 |
0.9 |
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
JapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
KazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
|
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
6 |
0.6 |
4 |
0.4 |
3 |
0.3 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
1 |
0.1 |
LatviaLatvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
|
5 |
0.5 |
4 |
0.4 |
3 |
0.3 |
4 |
0.4 |
3 |
0.3 |
5 |
0.5 |
5 |
0.5 |
4 |
0.4 |
LithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
|
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
Northern Ireland, United KingdomNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
|
1 |
0.1 |
2 |
0.2 |
1 |
0.1 |
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
2 |
0.2 |
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
|
2 |
0.2 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
|
57 |
5.8 |
57 |
5.6 |
40 |
4.2 |
35 |
3.7 |
30 |
3.2 |
32 |
3.3 |
33 |
3.4 |
32 |
3.3 |
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
|
35 |
3.6 |
37 |
3.7 |
31 |
3.2 |
25 |
2.7 |
23 |
2.4 |
18 |
1.8 |
18 |
1.9 |
14 |
1.4 |
SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
2 |
0.2 |
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
|
|
South KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
|
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
1 |
0.1 |
|
|
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
|
58 |
5.9 |
52 |
5.1 |
45 |
4.7 |
49 |
5.2 |
52 |
5.5 |
53 |
5.4 |
52 |
5.4 |
63 |
6.4 |
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
|
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
4 |
0.4 |
5 |
0.5 |
6 |
0.6 |
5 |
0.5 |
3 |
0.3 |
6 |
0.6 |
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
|
8 |
0.8 |
8 |
0.8 |
8 |
0.8 |
9 |
1.0 |
5 |
0.5 |
4 |
0.4 |
2 |
0.2 |
3 |
0.3 |
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|
140 |
14.3 |
160 |
15.8 |
177 |
18.4 |
182 |
19.3 |
203 |
21.6 |
216 |
22.2 |
207 |
21.5 |
234 |
23.9 |
| Total |
980 |
100.0 |
1010 |
100.0 |
961 |
100.0 |
942 |
100.0 |
941 |
100.0 |
974 |
100.0 |
965 |
100.0 |
978 |
100.0 |
Canada
In Canada, National Hockey League games are aired nationally by the
Canadian Broadcasting CorporationCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
(CBC) and
The Sports NetworkThe NHL on TSN is TSN's broadcast of National Hockey League games. The show's current incarnation debuted in 2002. The channel has exclusive local rights to the Montreal Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets.-Coverage overview:...
(TSN). CBC airs
Hockey Night in CanadaHockey Night in Canada is the branding used for CBC Sports' presentations of the National Hockey League...
, a long-standing Canadian tradition dating to 1952, and even prior to that on radio since the 1920s. The current incarnation of
Hockey Night in Canada airs a weekly Saturday night double-header during the regular season, with the first game usually featuring at least one Eastern Canadian team, and the second game at least one Western Canadian team. TSN usually televises three or four games per week during the regular season, with their primary night being Wednesdays. Coverage of the first three rounds of the playoffs is split between CBC and TSN, with the former primarily televising any series involving Canadian teams. CBC also broadcasts the Stanley Cup Finals.
French language games are broadcast by the
Réseau des sportsRéseau des sports , is a Canadian French language Category C specialty channel showing sports and sport-related shows. It is available in 2.5 million homes, and is owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc....
(RDS) and
Réseau Info-Sports (RIS), including all Montreal Canadiens games, selected Ottawa Senator games, and the playoffs.
Several regional broadcasters air local team games, primarily regional networks owned by
Rogers SportsnetSportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...
(RSN), and
Leafs TVLeafs TV is a Canadian English language Category B specialty channel owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. It was launched in September 2001. The channel presents programming revolving around the Toronto Maple Leafs National Hockey League club and their American Hockey League affiliate,...
for selected Toronto Maple Leafs games. TSN also airs regional "TSN Habs" and "TSN Jets" feeds for selected Canadiens and Jets games respectively.
United States
Historically, the NHL has never fared well on American television in comparison to the other major leagues in North America. While CBC's aforementioned
Hockey Night in Canada has been a tradition since the 1950s, the league's American broadcast partners have been in constant flux for decades, ranging from such networks as
CBSNHL on CBS is a former television program that broadcast National Hockey League games on CBS Sports. CBS was the first American television network to broadcast NHL games.-1956–1960 version:...
, SportsChannel America, the USA Network, Fox, ABC, and
ESPNESPN National Hockey Night was ESPN's weekly television broadcasts of National Hockey League regular season games and coverage of playoff games, broadcast from 1992 to 2004...
.
Since the 2005-06 season however, NHL games have aired nationally by the cable channel
VersusThe NHL on Versus was the former branding used for National Hockey League games broadcast on Versus. Versus became the NHL's cable partner in the United States beginning in the 2005-06 season from previous partner ESPN, providing coverage of regular season games, playoff games, and select games...
(previously the "Outdoor Life Network" and to become "NBC Sports Network" in 2012) and by the broadcast network NBC. Originally, NBC had a revenue-sharing agreement with the league to broadcast games, with no money paid up front by the network. Versus had about 20 million fewer subscribers than ESPN when the NHL started on Versus, but its owner Comcast switched Versus from a digital tier to basic cable to make NHL games available to more cable subscribers as well as re-branded the network as a sports network. For Versus, the NHL coverage was a good addition as Versus'
ratingsNielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
grew by about 275% when it showed an NHL game.
In January 2011, Comcast officially acquired
NBC UniversalNBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
, and then in April of that year the league negotiated a new 10-year deal with the merged media company, worth nearly $2 billion dollars. Comcast/NBC also announced that Versus would become NBC Sports Network, and both the cable channel and NBC would increase its number of games.
Regional broadcasters also air local team games, including several of the regional sports networks owned by
Comcast SportsNetComcast SportsNet is a group of regional sports networks in the United States primarily owned by the Comcast cable television company....
and
Fox Sports NetThe Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...
.
XM Satellite RadioXM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
is the official satellite radio broadcaster of the NHL, as of July 1, 2007. Between September 2005 and June 2007, the NHL's broadcasting rights were shared with both XM and
Sirius Satellite RadioSirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
and were broadcast on just Sirius before the NHL lockout. XM used to broadcast more than 80% of NHL games, including all the play-offs and finals. Starting with the 2007–08 season, XM broadcasts every game.
NHL Network
The league co-owns the NHL Network, a television specialty channel devoted to the NHL. There are two versions, one for Canadian viewers and a separate one for those in the United States. The NHL Network is a joint venture with other media companies. CTV Specialty Television and Insight Sports are both minority owners of the Canadian version, while NBCUniversal is a minority owner of the American version.
The NHL Network's signature show is
NHL on the FlyNHL on the Fly is the flagship show on the NHL Network in Canada and the United States. It carries instant updates and extended highlights of every game in the NHL that night. The show also includes live "look-ins" to games for a few minutes at a time. After all the scheduled games for an evening...
, which covers NHL news, highlights, interviews, and analysis. The NHL Network also airs live games, with the Canadian version primarily focusing on those featuring Canadian teams and the American version focusing on American teams.
Out-of-market sports packages
NHL Centre IceNHL Centre Ice is a Canadian digital cable subscription Out-of-Market Sports Package. It is offered by three national satellite television service providers, Bell TV, TELUS Optik TV, Telus Satellite TV, and Shaw Direct and many digital cable television providers such as Rogers, Shaw, Cogeco and...
for Canadian viewers and
NHL Center IceNHL Center Ice is an Out-of-Market Sports Package distributed by most cable and satellite providers in the United States and Canada. The package allows its subscribers to see up to forty out-of-market National Hockey League games a week using local and national television networks.NHL Center Ice...
for American viewers are
out-of-market sports packageIn the North America, an Out-of-Market Sports Package is a form of subscription television that broadcasts sporting events to areas who are unavailable to see them because the games are not broadcast in their local market....
s available by most cable and satellite providers. These packages allow subscribers to see up to forty out-of-market NHL games a week using local and national television networks. The NHL also offers a pay service called NHL Gamecenter Live on its website, allowing people to also watch out-of-market games online. All these services have blackout restrictions; games that are available locally on TV, either via a regional network or a national one, are blacked out.
International
Outside of Canada and the United States, NHL games are broadcast across Europe on ESPN America which takes feeds from Versus, FSN, TSN and CBC (including Hockey Night in Canada), and MSG. Games can also be seen in the UK on
ESPNESPN is a sports television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland owned by American sports broadcaster ESPN Inc. The channel launched on 3 August 2009...
, on
Fox SportsFox Sports is an Australia group of sports channels. They are owned by the Premier Media Group, which is in turn owned by News Corporation, and Consolidated Media Holdings. Its main competitors are ESPN, which has little local content and the free-to-air digital channel One HD...
in Australia, on SKY Sport in Italy, on
Viasat SportViasat Sport is the common brand of several sports channels targeting the Nordic, Baltic and Eastern European countries owned by Modern Times Group.Viasat Sport is also the name of one tv-channel in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and the Baltics...
in Russia, Norway, Finland, and Denmark on
Viasat HockeyViasat Hockey is a sports channel that is broadcasting from the United Kingdom, primarily targeting Sweden but also available in Finland and Norway . Broadcasting was commenced on September 1, 2009, at the start of the 2009 ice hockey season...
in Sweden and in Portugal on
SportTVSportTV is the brand name for a group of seven Portuguese sports-oriented television channels. SportTV is the dominant subscription television sports brand in Portugal. The first channel, then known as only SportTV, was launched on 16 September 1998 and is produced by ZON Multimédia and...
. In the
AmericasThe Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, NHL games are broadcast across Mexico, Central America and
Dominican RepublicThe Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
on
SKY MéxicoSKY México is a company that operates a subscription television service in the Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic area. It produces TV content, and owns several TV channels...
. Stanley Cup games can also be viewed in New Zealand on
Sky SportSky Sport is a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by New Zealand's satellite pay-TV company, Sky Network Television. Sky Sport 1 was launched in 1990...
. In
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, the games will be broadcast on
ESPN InternationalESPN International is a family of networks around the world. It was begun in 1989 and is operated by ESPN. It consists of:Asia: *ESPN SEA*ESPN SEA 2*ESPN China*ESPN Hong Kong*ESPN India*ESPN Malaysia...
.
The aforementioned NHL Gamecenter Live on NHL.com is also available for people outside Canada and the United States to watch games online, free from blackout restrictions.
Popularity
The NHL is considered one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, along with
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, and the
National Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
. The league is very prominent in Canada, where hockey is the most popular of these four major sports as well as the
CFLThe Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. Overall, hockey has the smallest total fan base of the four leagues, the smallest revenue from television, and the least sponsorship.
While the NHL does not hold one of the largest fan bases in North America, it does hold one of the most affluent fan bases. Studies by the Sports Marketing Group conducted from 1998 to 2004 show that the NHL's fan base is much more affluent than that of the
PGA TourThe PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
. A study done by the
Stanford Graduate School of BusinessThe Stanford Graduate School of Business is one of the professional schools of Stanford University, in Stanford, California and is broadly regarded as one of the best business schools in the world.The Stanford GSB offers a general management Master of Business Administration degree, the Sloan...
in 2004, found that NHL fans in America were the most educated and affluent of the four major leagues. They were also found to be substantially more
computerA computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
literate than the other fans. Further it noted that season-ticket sales were more prominent in the NHL than the other three because of the ability of the NHL fan to purchase them, something more out of reach for fans of the other leagues. According to
ReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
in 2010, the largest demographic of NHL fans was highly sought after group males aged 18–34, who were also shown to be more "tech savvy" than most fans.
The NHL estimates that fully half of its fan base roots for teams in outside markets. Beginning in 2008, under the direction of
Chief Operating OfficerA Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
John Collins, the NHL began a shift toward using digital technology to market to fans to capitalize on this.
This has boosted viewership metrics for the NHL. The 2010
Stanley CupThe Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
play-offs saw the largest audience in the history of the sport "after a regular season that saw record-breaking business success, propelled in large part by the NHL's strategy of engaging fans through big events and robust digital offerings." This success has resulted in a 66 percent rise in NHL advertising and sponsorship revenue. Collins said "It was a great Stanley Cup run, really across every possible metric .... Our fans are consuming more hockey." Merchandise sales were up 22 percent and the number of unique visitors on the NHL.com website were up 17 percent during the playoffs after rising 29 percent in the regular season.
Causes
The NHL advocates for a number of causes throughout the season. During the days leading up to
Remembrance DayRemembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of their armed forces who have died in the line of duty. This day, or alternative dates, are also recognized as special days for war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth...
(November 11, known as
Veterans DayVeterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, is an annual United States holiday honoring military veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark...
in the United States), in respect of the day, coaches and other NHL officials wear red poppy lapel pins.
Hockey Fights CancerHockey Fights Cancer is a charitable initiative of the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association dedicated to raising money and awareness toward cancer research...
is a joint initiative founded in December 1998 by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association to raise money and awareness for hockey's most important fight. It is supported by NHL Member Clubs, NHL Alumni, the NHL Officials' Association, Professional Hockey Trainers and Equipment Managers, corporate marketing partners, broadcast partners and fans.
See also
- Heritage Classic
The Heritage Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played on November 22, 2003, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadiens. It was the first National Hockey League game to be played outdoors as a part of regular season play...
- List of defunct NHL teams
- List of NHL records (individual)
- History of the National Hockey League
The history of the National Hockey League begins with the end of its predecessor league, the National Hockey Association , in 1917. After unsuccessfully resolving disputes with Eddie Livingstone, owner of the Toronto Blueshirts, executives of the three other NHA franchises suspended the NHA, and...
- List of NHL records (team)
- List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada
- List of TV markets and major sports teams
- List of American and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports franchises
- Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada
- NHL Winter Classic
The NHL Winter Classic is an annual event held by the National Hockey League on New Year's Day where regular-season games are played outdoors, in areas hosted by NHL teams. Though largely derived from the Heritage Classic outdoor game held in Edmonton in 2003, the Winter Classic has so far only...
- Professional Hockey Writers Association
The Professional Hockey Writers' Association is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites...
External links