- NHL can also denote Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
The National Hockey League, as it exists today, was formed on November 26,
1917, after a meeting between representatives of the National Hockey Association in Montreal's Windsor
Hotel. The owners of the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, and Toronto Arenas decided to form a new league in order to exclude Edward J. Livingston, owner of the NHA Toronto Blueshirts franchise, from being involved in their future
hockey operations.
The league quickly became successful; some early franchises failed, but new teams joined to replace them. In the first 9 years
of the NHL, its teams had won the Stanley Cup 7 out of 8 times (one series
was canceled due to an epidemic), and it was now clear that the NHL had
become the premier hockey league. In recognition of this, the trustees of the Cup turned it over to the NHL permanently.
By this time the league had expanded into the United States, and from
1926 to 1931 there were 10 teams, but the Great Depression then took its toll. In 1942, the NHL's 25th year, it came down to six teams... and that was the last franchise change for another 25 years.
Those teams are now known, somewhat inaccurately, as the Original Six.
The league doubled in size in 1967, admitting six new teams, and has repeatedly expanded
since then, reaching its present total of 30 teams in 2000. In the 1970s the league faced
stiff competition form the World Hockey
Association, but this league eventually folded and four of its teams joined the NHL.
In the most recent period of expansion, the league has spread to the American south in an attempt to attract nationwide attention in the U.S.
NHL seasons
1917-18 | 1918-19 | 1919-20 | 1920-21 | 1921-22 | 1922-23 | 1923-24 | 1924-25 | 1925-26 | 1926-27 | 1927-28 | 1928-29 | 1929-30 | 1930-31 | 1931-32 | 1932-33 | 1933-34 | 1934-35 | 1935-36 | 1936-37 | 1937-38 | 1938-39 | 1939-40 | 1940-41 | 1941-42 | 1942-43 | 1943-44 | 1944-45 | 1945-46 | 1946-47 | 1947-48 | 1948-49 | 1949-50 | 1950-51 | 1951-52 | 1952-53 | 1953-54 | 1954-55 | 1955-56 | 1956-57 | 1957-58 | 1958-59 | 1959-60 | 1960-61 | 1961-62 | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1964-65 | 1965-66 | 1966-67 | 1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70 | 1970-71 | 1971-72 | 1972-73 | 1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-2000 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05
Trophies and awards
The National Hockey League also presents numerous trophies, in addition to the Stanley Cup for the overall playoff champion as well as the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the conference playoff champions. They include:
The O'Brien Trophy was awarded in the NHL before it was retired
following the 1949-50 NHL
season.
The Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the
National Hockey League since 1966 to honour a recipient's contribution to hockey in the United States.
Three years after retirement, players are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. If a player is deemed important enough, however, the waiting period can be waived.
This has been done 10 times.
Organisation
NHL teams (in their current incarnation)
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Structure
Each team in the NHL regular season plays 82 games, 41 home and 41
on the road. Teams play teams from the other conference usually once or twice, teams in the same conference, but a different
division three or four times, and teams in the same division five or six times. Two points are awarded for wins, one point for
ties, one point for losing in overtime, and zero points for a loss. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with
the most points in their division is crowned the division champions, and the division champions, along with the five teams from
each conference with the most points but did not win the division (wild-card teams), qualify for the Stanley Cup
Playoffs.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle in a best-of-seven series (named as
four wins are needed to advance, and thus at most seven games are needed to determine a series winner) in order to advance to the
next round. Unlike the regular season, there are no ties, with another period of overtime played should an overtime fail to reach
a decision. Overtimes are also full periods of twenty minutes (of five-on-five hockey), rather than the five minutes (of
four-on-four hockey) of the regular season. The higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage,
and first, second, fifth, and seventh games of the series is played in that team's home venue.
In each conference, the division winners are seeded one through three and the wild-card teams are seeded four through eight
based on their regular-season point totals. In the event of a tie in points in the standings, ties are broken first by amount of
wins, then by record against the team that is tied, then goals for and goals againt that team. The first round of the playoffs
consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth
playing the fifth. At the conclusion first round, the teams in each conference are reseeded as before, with the top remaining
seed playing against the fourth remaining seed, and the second remaining seed playing against the third remaining seed. In the
next round, the Conference Finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the winners playing against
in the Stanley Cup Finals for hockey's Holy Grail.
Presidents/Commissioners of the NHL
- Frank Calder (1917-1943) President
- Red Dutton (1943-1946) President
- Clarence Campbell (1946-1977) President
- John Ziegler (1977-1992)
President
- Gil Stein (1992-1993) President
- Gary Bettman (1993-present) Commissioner
See also
External Links
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