National Hockey League

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America, currently comprising 31 teams; 24 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The National Hockey League was organized on November 26, 1917, at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 in 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 failures 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 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 team in 2017 and has approved the addition of a 32nd team in 2021.

Teams

Division	Team	City	Arena	Founded	First League Season
Eastern Conference
Atlantic	Boston Bruins	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Garden	November 1, 1924	1924-25
	Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo, New York	KeyBank Center	December 2, 1969	1970-71
	Detroit Red Wings	Detroit, Michigan	Little Caesars Arena	1926
	Florida Panthers	Sunrise, Florida	BB&T Center	1993
	Montreal Canadiens	Montreal, Quebec	Bell Centre	1909	1917
	Ottawa Senators	Ottawa, Ontario	Canadian Tire Centre	1992
	Tampa Bay Lightning	Tampa, Florida	Amalie Arena	1992
	Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto, Ontario	Scotiabank Arena	1917
Metropolitan	Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh, North Carolina	PNC Arena	1972	1979*
	Columbus Blue Jackets	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	June 25, 1997	2000-01
	New Jersey Devils	Newark, New Jersey	Prudential Center	June 8, 1972	1974-75
	New York Islanders	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	December 28, 1971	1972-73
	New York Rangers	New York City, New York	Madison Square Garden	1926
	Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wells Fargo Center	1967
	Pittsburgh Penguins	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	PPG Paints Arena	1967
	Washington Capitals	Washington, D.C.	Capital One Arena	1974
Western Conference
Central	Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago, Illinois	United Center	1926
	Colorado Avalanche	Denver, Colorado	Ball Arena	November 1, 1971	1979*
	Dallas Stars	Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center	1967*
	Minnesota Wild	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	June 25, 1997	2000-01
	Nashville Predators	Nashville, Tennessee	Bridgestone Arena	June 25, 1997	1998-99
	St. Louis Blues	St. Louis, Missouri	Enterprise Center	1967
	Winnipeg Jets	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Bell MTS Place	June 25, 1997	1999-2000
Pacific	Anaheim Ducks	Anaheim, California	Honda Center	1993
	Arizona Coyotes	Glendale, Arizona	Gila River Arena	November 1, 1971	1979*
	Calgary Flames	Calgary, Alberta	Scotiabank Saddledome	December 28, 1971	1972-73
	Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Rogers Place	November 1, 1971	1979
	Los Angeles Kings	Los Angeles, California	Staples Center	1967
	San Jose Sharks	San Jose, California	SAP Center at San Jose	1991
	Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	Rogers Arena	December 2, 1969	1970-71
	Vegas Golden Knights	Paradise, Nevada	T-Mobile Arena	2017

See also

• List of National Hockey League seasons
• List of NHL All-Star Games
• NHL league publications
• Goal Magazine

Leagues Portal