National Hockey League

The National Hockey League was established in 1917 as the successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA). Founded in 1909, the NHA began play in 1910 with seven teams in Ontario and Quebec and was one of the first major leagues in professional ice hockey.

Original Six

For the 1942 season, the NHL was reduced to six teams. They were the Boston Bruins, The Chicago Black Hawks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. These six teams would remain in the entire league for the next 25 years.

In 1947 the NHL reached an agreement with the Stanley Cup trustees to take full control of the trophy. This allowed it to reject challenges from other leagues that wished to play for the cup.

in 1945 Maurice “Rocket” Richard became the first player to score 50 goals. He did this in a 50-game season.

*Maurice is who the Rocket Richard trophy is named for and is awarded to the top goal scorer in the league each season.

Between the years of 1956 and 1960, he led the Montreal Canadiens to five consecutive titles. A record that still stands to this day.

In 1958 Willie O’Ree became the first black player in league history. He made his debut with the Boston Bruins.

For the 1967 1968 season, the league added expansion teams. These teams were the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburg Penguins, the California Seals, and the St. Louise Blues. After receiving much anger from the Canadian fans that all the new teams were in the United States the NHL responded by adding the vancouver canucks in 1970 along with the buffalo sabers. Two years later the NHL added the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames from the World Hockey Association to build and keep rivalries in those markets.

In 1974 the Washington Capitals and the Kansas City Scouts were added bringing the league up to 18 teams. The NHL fought with the WHA for players losing 67 players in total to the new league in its first season the 1972-1973 season. These players included the Chicago black hawks’ Bobby Hull who signed a 10-year 2.5 million dollar contract with the Winnipeg Jets. At the time it was the largest in hockey history. The league actually attempted to block the defections in court, but a counter-suit by the WHA led to a Philadelphia judge ruling the NHL’s reserve clause to be illegal and that eliminated the NHLS monopoly over players.

Fast forward 7 long and financially draining years of battling over players and the leagues decided to merge. In 1979 the merger saw the WHA cease operations and the NHL take in the Winnipeg Jets, the Edmonton Oilers, the Hartford Whalers, and the Quebec Nordiques.

In 1991 the San Jose Sharks, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Ottawa Senators, the Might Ducks of Anaheim the Florida Panthers the Nashville Predators the Atlanta Thrashers, and in 2000 the Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets were added as expansion teams.

In the 2017-2018 season, the Vegas Golden Knights joined the league and finally, in the 2021-2022 season, the league’s youngest franchise joined the league. That team would be the Seatle Kracken.