History
The beginnings to The Original Six
A National Hockey League was founded within 1917 after a series of disputes inside a (American) National Hockey Association (NHA). A number 1 NHL season began in 1917-18 with five teams.

A primary conflict exposed Toronto Blueshirts' owner Edward J. Livingstone. An on-going source of disputation among fellow NHA owners, he was typically accused of exploiting loopholes within league regulations to produce what occasionally deem unfair benefits, & got particularly incited a wrath of owners when he merged his deuce Toronto teams (a Ontarios & a Blueshirts) after a latter experienced been deprived of its top players. Livingstone anmore time offered contracts to other teams' members ''does'nt'' to play hockey, & another time campaigned to kick a Montreal Wanderers out of a league when the team tried to lure ii of his top Blueshirts players. Throughout his battles by owning owners, Livingstone repeatedly threatened to run the rival league in the United States.

Around its final year (1916-17), A National Hockey Association was comprised of sise teams: The Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, Toronto Blueshirts, and an army team from either a Toronto-depending 228th Battalion. Owners met within Montreal to assume a league's new in February 11, 1917, a day after members of a 228th Battalion, the virtually all popular NHA team, were known as into World War I action. Livingstone, unable to attend a meeting because of unwellness, was aghast to view that owners got chosen to profits eject him & a Blueshirts from either a NHA.

Fallowing a resignation of NHA president & Livingstone ally Frank Robinson, Livingstone stopped attending league meetings & sent an attorney to represent his interests. Whilst owners convened in September 29, 1917, they demanded that Livingstone sell a Blueshirts inside 5 years. Livingstone so negotiated a treat where the Toronto Arena Gardens would choose control of the Blueshirts' day-after-day business, using Livingstone to yet regain control whenever a NHA continued operations. Around response, NHA owners met at Montreal's Windsor Hotel in November 26, 1917, & formed a National Hockey League, sustaining a Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators, English bulldog and newly-renamed Toronto Arenas as founding members.

the NHL endured a jolting initiatory year inside 1917-18, starting with a irregular shuttering of the English bulldog. witharound January Two, 1918, the Westmount Arena in Montreal, personal to the Wanderers & Canadiens, was ruined in a fire. a Wanderers, already a shadow of its previous self, folded in the wake up of the fire, ending one of the virtually all storied franchises in the early years of American sales person hockey. By owning a English bulldog & Wanderers retired, a NHL operated sustaining simply trio teams for the remainder of its opening month, & through the 2nd year. Though Livingstone got been keep out, one of his NHthe ideas — the proposal for a split regular year — was adopted per fresh league & integrated into its playoff system. A Toronto Arenas became a number 1 NHL winner of the Stanley Cup, the annual trophy awarded since 1893 to the Canadian hockey champion. a furious Livingstone, meanwhile, failed within his attempt to collect a part of profit from either a Arenas, so sued the team & the NHL. A dispute lingered through a Thirties, using the Arenas since renamed the Toronto St. Patricks and ultimately the Toronto Maple Leafs. History has seemed back in Livingstone & a NHL's formation using A feel of irony: a human whom league owners got worked thus firm to exclude was, in the words of Canadiens creator George Kennedy, the equivalent figure that "made [the NHL] a real league".

Though a league struggled to stay in a business in the period of its number 1 decade, NHL teams were quite successful on the ice, winning the Stanley Ventral suction cup vii away from its number 1 nine years. (A 1918-19 competition was cancelled because of the Spanish Flu epidemic that had hit Seattle). By 1926, with increased streaming video player remuneration to the level that couldn't become matched by more American leagues, a NHL was alone inside Stanley Ventral suction cup competition. A league experienced besides expanded into a United States, with a Boston Bruins in 1924, the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 and the New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars (later to get a Red Wings), & Chicago Blackhawks in 1926. Per prevent of the 1930-31 season, the NHL featured the sum of Decade teams. Nevertheless, a Great Depression took a toll on a league; teams like a Pirates & a Americans folded, & potentially the legendary Ottawa Senators were forced to stack when moving to St. Louis because of fiscal difficulties. By using these developments & a onset of World War II, the NHL was reduced to vi teams when you took its Twenty-fifth day of remembrance month of (1942) – six teams however known in todays world, whenever somewhat inaccurately, when a Original Six: The Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers, and Blackhawks. Globe War II got provided several players their number 1 risk to play office hockey, however fallowing a war, numbers of observed themselves relegated to minor leagues.

Expansion: 1967 and beyond
Minor leagues, especially in the american United States, typically fielded teams that arguably stand defeated Stanley Ventral suction cup champions. A rise of the Western Hockey League, which many learned person thought planned to turn into a big league & challenge for the Stanley Ventral suction cup, spurred the NHL within 1967 to undertake its first expansion since a Twenties. Six fresh teams were added to the NHL roll, & laid in their have newly-created section. It were a Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. 3 years late, a NHL added a Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres as franchises.

Inside 1972, the World Hockey Association (WHA) was formed. Though it never challenged for the Stanley Cup, its status as a viable NHL rival was unquestionable. Inside response to it, a NHL decided to rush its have expansion plans by adding a New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames that year, along by owning a Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals two years later. A dilution of the talent pool, all the same, caused the overall quality of play to suffer. In addition, a rising dominance of Soviet-style hockey revealed stark differences in a comparatively lesser abilities of the mostly American players world health organization manufactured higher the NHL & WHA. Them leagues fought for a services of ice-hockey player & fans until the WHA folded around 1979. 4 of a unexpended sextet WHA teams merged using A NHL: The Hartford Whalers, Québec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets. When of 2005, a Oilers come a previous remaining original WHA franchise to however exist as in the city in which it began in the NHL.

A NHL continued to exp& inside the ii decades that followed, and in 2000 reached its present total of Thirty teams. Though hockey remained popular within Canada, a sport's popularity in a United States, especially in the Our contries south, dwindled pertinent in which numbers of considered hockey to exist as the minor sport likened sustaining the U.s. staples of baseball, basketball, and football, and inside occasionally instances, NASCAR stock car racing.

Labour Issues
There develop been triplet strike inside NHL history. the number 1 was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association (NHLPA) in April 1992, which lasted for 10 years. (Though a strike began towards a year's prevent, it was settled quickly plenty for affected games to exist as rescheduled.)

The lockout at the begin of the 1994-95 season proved far more tumultuous, lasting leash months & forcing a league to reduce a schedule from either 84 to 48 games. Teams played alone intra-conference games when you took a lockout-shortened year. A resultant collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was set for renegotiation within 1998, & a agreement was finally reach previous until September 15, 2004.

Negotiations for a recently agreement, launched around 2004 to replenish a expiring 1995 treat, turned into one of the virtually all contentious collective bargaining sessions in the history of broker sports. A league vowed to set up what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams. the NHLPA countered that a move was little to a higher degree a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union at the start said it would non assume. By owning there are no newly agreement inside hand whenever the existent contract expired in September 15, 2004, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and surcease of operations per NHL head professional. At length, a 2004-05 NHL season was cancelled, and a NHL became a foremost major N U.s. sports league within history to lose an entire year because of labour disputes. Within July 2005, a newly collective bargaining agreement was ratified, letting a NHL to resume in the 2005-06 season.

Trophies and awards
A National Hockey League besides presents many trophies, additionally to the Stanley Cup for the overall playoff champion, when well as the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the Western Conference playoff champions and the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Eastern Conference playoff champions. It include:

Art Ross Memorial Trophy (1948 - present) -- regular season league scoring champion Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy (1968 - present) -- perseverance and sportsmanship Calder Memorial Trophy (1933 - present) -- rookie of the year Conn Smythe Trophy (1965 - present) -- most valuable streaming video player when you took a playoffs Frank J. Selke Trophy (1978 - present) -- top defensive forward Hart Memorial Trophy (1924 - present) -- most valuable streaming video player in a period of the regular season Jack Adams Award (1974 - present) -- coach of the year James Norris Memorial Trophy (1954 - present)-- most spectacular defenceman King Clancy Memorial Trophy (1988 - present) -- leadership and humanist contribution Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1925 - present) -- player combining ability & sportsmanship Lester B. Pearson Award (1971 - present) -- most outstanding player as selected by peers Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy (1999 - present) -- to the goal-scoring leader during the regular season NHL Plus/Minus Award (1968 - present) -- highest plus/minus statistic Presidents' Trophy (1986 - present) - best regular year by the team Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award (2000 - present) -- best save percentage by the goalkeeper Vezina Trophy (1927 - present) -- voted to be a virtually all great goaltender William M. Jennings Trophy (1982 - present) -- goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against

A O'Brien Trophy was awarded in the NHL before it was retired following the 1949-50 NHL season.

A Lester Patrick Trophy has been presented by the National Hockey League since 1966 to honour the recipient's contribution to hockey in the United States.

3 years fallowing retirement, players come eligible to exist as voted into a Hockey Hall of Fame. It used to become that, whenever a streaming video player was deemed important plenty, the pending time period would be waived. All the same, merely Ten single use at times been honoured in that manner. Around 1999 Wayne Gretzky became a previous streaming video player to keep close at hand the trine years waived. When Gretzky's induction, a NHL declared that he would become a previous 1 to own a wait period of time omitted.

the Pearson Award is the just award known as fallowing a politician.

Current organization

Eastern Conference
|- ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" breadth="150" | Northeast Division ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" breadth="150" | Atlantic Division ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" breadth="150" | Southeast Division |- ! |- ! |- ! |- ! |- ! |}

Western Conference
|- ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" breadth="150" | Northwest Division ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" breadth="150" | Central Division ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" breadth="150" | Pacific Division |- ! |- ! |- ! |- ! |- ! |}

Structure
Apiece team in the NHL plays 82 regular season games, 41 games at home & 41 on tour. Teams utilized to play completely more teams in a league at least when, however this might there are no protracted exist as the out break resulting implementation of post-lockout changes. Teams may currently play Decade interconference (that is, non inside their have conference) games throughout a entire year, One game against both team in 2 of the deuce-ace divisions in the paired conference. Teams may as well play Xl games against non-divisional, conference opponents (Four games against both), & 32 games inside their section (Eight games against every). Both points come awarded for wins, 1 point for losing inside overtime or the gunfight, & zero for a loss within regulation period. At a prevent of a regular year, a team that ends by owning a virtually all points inside every section is crowned the section champion. From to each one one Conference consists of 3 divisions, & so these ternary section champions and 5 further teams fill out each Conference's playoff field. Within amount, Xvi teams (Triplet section champions & Five extrthe teams, for a sum of Eighter from either decatur from every Conference) qualify for the Stanley Ventral suction cup Playoffs.

A Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where ii teams battle to win the right-of-seven series sequentially to advance to the next around. Whenever a score is attached at a prevent of the third time time period an overtime period is played. In case the score is attached at a prevent of an overtime cycle, extra overtime periods come played until a winner is determined. Overtimes come too fully periods of twenty proceedings (of 5-in-5 hockey), like than the 5 transactions (of 4-in-4 hockey, followed by a gunfight,) in the regular year. A overtime is played by owning golden goal rule (sudden death) so the game finishes when soon when either team scores a goal. A higher-ranked team is said to become a team by having a personal-ice benefit. 4 of the sevener games come played at this team's front yard venue - a 1st & 2nd, &, in which necessary, a fifth & seventh, by owning a more games played at a lower-ranked team's page venue.

A virtually all recent playoff that was contested in a NHL utilized a as a result format: a section winners were seeded 1 across 3, so a next 5 teams by having the better records in the conference were seeded 4 across eight. But, a league has however to announce a playoff format for the 2005-06 seasaround, and sustaining a fresh programing format that emphasises section play, a league is reportedly looking for placing greater emphasis on section standings by ingesting a top Deuce teams in every section, along sustaining a teams by having a next deuce better records for both Conference's playoff field. within a event of a tie in points in a standings, ties come broken 1st by total of wins, so by record against a team that is attached (disregarding a foremost game played at the arena of the team that hosted supplementary games than the more in the period of the year series, in case applicable). Next, a attached team by owning a better caring differential between goals scored for & against incline preference, & in a uncommon circumstance these tiebreakers come deficient, a Commissioner has a authority to devise another means of breaking the tie. A number 1 around of a playoffs, or even Conference Quarterfinals, consists of a number one seed swimming a eighth seed, a 2nd swimming a seventh, third swimming a sixth, & the for swimming the fifth. In a Conference Semi, a top left Conference seed plays against a for left seed, & a 2nd left seed plays the third left over seed. inside a next spherical, a Conference Finals, them odd teams in both conference play both more, by using the Conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.

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