National Hockey League

Stanley Cup

The National Hockey League is an ice hockey league. It is the most important in the United States and Canada. The NHL began in 1917. Some of the owners in the National Hockey Association had problems with owner Edward Livingstone, so they got rid of him by creating a new league. They started off with 5 teams, and only 2 of those remain today (The Montreal Canadiens, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, then known as the Toronto Arenas). The most recent expansion teams to join the league are the Golden Knights (2016), Seattle Kraken (2021), and the Utah NHL team (2024) formerly to Arizona Coyotes. The National Hockey League was organized at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal on November 26, 1917, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 at Renfrew, Ontario. The NHL immediately took the NHA's place as one of the leagues that contested for the Stanley Cup in an annual interleague competition before a series of league mergers and foldings left the NHL as the only league left competing for the Stanley Cup in 1926.

At its inception, the NHL had four teams, all in Canada, thus the adjective "National" in the league's name. The league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, and has since consisted of both American and Canadian teams. From 1942 to 1967, the league had only six teams, collectively (if not contemporaneously) nicknamed the "Original Six". The NHL added six new teams to double its size at the 1967 NHL expansion. The league then increased to 18 teams by 1974 and 21 teams in 1979. Between 1991 and 2000, the NHL further expanded to 30 teams. It added its 31st and 32nd teams in 2017 and 2021, respectively, followed by a 33rd in 2024.

The NHL is the fifth-highest grossing professional sport league in the world by revenue, after the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the English Premier League (EPL). The league's headquarters have been in Manhattan since 1989, when the head office moved from Montreal. There have been four league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all occurring after 1992.

The NHL's regular season is typically held from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. Following the conclusion of the regular season, 16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, a four-round tournament that runs into June to determine the league champion. Since the league's founding in 1917, the Montreal Canadiens have won the most combined NHL titles with 25, winning three NHL championship series before the league took full exclusivity of the Stanley Cup in 1926, and 22 Stanley Cups afterwards. The reigning league champions are the Vegas Golden Knights, who defeated the Florida Panthers in the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals.

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

• Boston Bruins (Boston, Massachusetts) Founded: 1924
• Buffalo Sabres (Buffalo, New York) Founded: 1970
• Detroit Red Wings (Detroit, Michigan) Founded: 1926
• Florida Panthers (Sunrise, Florida) Founded: 1993
• Montreal Canadiens (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Founded: 1909
• Ottawa Senators (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) Founded: 1992
• Tampa Bay Lightning (Tampa, Florida) Founded: 1992
• Toronto Maple Leafs (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) Founded: 1917

Metropolitan Division

• Carolina Hurricanes (Raleigh, North Carolina) Founded: 1972 first played 1979 and 1997
• Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus, Ohio) Founded: 2000
• New Jersey Devils (Newark, New Jersey) Founded: 1974
• New York Islanders (Brooklyn, New York City, New York) Founded: 1972
• New York Rangers (Brooklyn, New York City, New York) Founded: 1926
• Philadelphia Flyers (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) Founded: 1967
• Pittsburgh Penguins (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Founded: 1967
• Washington Capitals (Washington D.C.) Founded: 1974

Western Conference

Central Division

• Chicago Blackhawks (Chicago, Illinois) Founded: 1926
• Colorado Avalanche (Denver, Colorado) Founded: 1972 first played 1979 and 1996
• Dallas Stars (Dallas, Texas) Founded: 1967
• Minnesota Wild (Saint Paul, Minnesota) Founded: 2000
• Nashville Predators (Nashville, Tennessee) Founded: 1998
• St. Louis Blues (St Louis, Missouri) Founded: 1967
• Winnipeg Jets (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) Founded: 1999 and 2011
• Utah NHL team (Salt Lake City, Utah) Founded: 2024

*Arizona Coyotes (inactive) Founded: 1972 and 1996

Pacific Division

• Anaheim Ducks (Anaheim, California) Founded: 1993
• Calgary Flames (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) Founded: 1972
• Edmonton Oilers (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) Founded: 1972 first played 1979
• Los Angeles Kings (Los Angeles, California) Founded: 1967
• Seattle Kraken (Seattle, Washington) Founded: 2021
• San Jose Sharks (San Jose, California) Founded: 1991
• Vancouver Canucks (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) Founded: 1975
• Vegas Golden Knights (Las Vegas, Nevada) Founded: 2016 first played 2017

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