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. However, by its eighth season, a series of disputes with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone led team owners of the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Quebec Bulldogs to hold a meeting to discuss the league's future.[13] Realizing the NHA constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out, the four teams voted instead to suspend the NHA, and on November 26, 1917, formed the National Hockey League. Frank Calder was chosen as the NHL's first president, serving until his death in 1943.[14]

The Bulldogs were unable to play in the NHL, and the remaining owners founded the Toronto Arenas to compete with the Canadiens, Wanderers and Senators.[15] The first games were played on December 19, 1917.[16] The Montreal Arena burned down in January 1918, causing the Wanderers to cease operations,[17] and the NHL continued on as a three-team league until the Bulldogs returned in 1919.[18]

The Stanley Cup in 1930, several years after it became the de facto championship trophy for the NHL

The NHL replaced the NHA as one of the leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, an interleague competition at the time. Toronto won the first NHL title, and then defeated the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) for the 1918 Stanley Cup.[19] The Canadiens won the league title in 1919, but the series in the Stanley Cup Finals against the PCHA's Seattle Metropolitans was abandoned due to the Spanish Flu epidemic.[20] In 1924, Montreal won their first Stanley Cup as a member of the NHL.[21] The Hamilton Tigers won the regular season title in 1924–25, but refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a C$200 bonus.[22] The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after they defeated the Toronto St. Patricks (formerly the Arenas) in the semi-final. Montreal was then defeated by the Victoria Cougars of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) in 1925. It was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy,[23] as the Stanley Cup became the de facto NHL championship in 1926, after the WCHL ceased operation.[24]

The National Hockey League embarked on a rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons and the Boston Bruins in 1924, the latter being the first American team to join the league.[25] The New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, and were joined by the Pittsburgh Pirates.[26] The New York Rangers were added in 1926,[27] and the Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars (later the Red Wings) were added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL.[28] A group purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927 and immediately renamed them the Toronto Maple Leafs.[29]

In 1934, the first NHL All-Star Game was held to benefit Ace Bailey, whose career ended on a vicious hit by Eddie Shore.[30] The second was held in 1937 in support of Howie Morenz's family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game.[31]

The Great Depression and the onset of World War II took a toll on the league. The Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930, then folded a year later. The Senators likewise became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, also lasting only a year.[32] The Maroons did not survive, as they suspended operations in 1938.[33] The Americans were suspended in 1942 due to a lack of available players, and were never reactivated.[34]

A game between the Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers in 1962

For the 1942–43 season, the NHL was reduced to six teams: the Boston Bruins, the Chicago Black Hawks, the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, a line-up, often referred to as the "Original Six", which would remain constant for the next 25 years. In 1947, the league reached an agreement with the Stanley Cup trustees to take full control of the trophy, allowing it to reject challenges from other leagues that wished to play for the Cup.[35]

In 1945, Maurice "Rocket" Richard became the first player to score 50 goals, doing so in a 50-game season.[36] Richard later led the Canadiens to five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960, a record no team has matched.[37]

On March 13, 1948, Asian Canadian Larry Kwong became the first non-white player in the NHL and broke the league's colour barrier by playing for the New York Rangers.[38][39] On January 18, 1958, Willie O'Ree became the first Black player in the league's history when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins.[40]

By the mid-1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the United States, coupled with concerns that the Western Hockey League was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. The league doubled in size to 12 teams for the 1967–68 season, adding the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the California Seals, and the St. Louis Blues.[41] However, Canadian fans were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States,[42] so the league responded by adding the Vancouver Canucks in 1970, along with the Buffalo Sabres, both located on the Canada–United States border.[43] Two years later, the emergence of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) led the league to add the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames to keep the rival league out of those markets.[44] In 1974, the Washington Capitals and the Kansas City Scouts were added, bringing the league up to 18 teams.[45]

NHL logo used from 1946 until 2005

The NHL fought the WHA for players, losing 67 to the new league in its first season of 1972–73,[46] including the Chicago Black Hawks' Bobby Hull, who signed a ten-year, $2.5 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets, then the largest in hockey history.[47] The league 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, thus eliminating the elder league's monopoly over the players.[48] Seven years of battling for players and markets financially damaged both leagues, leading to a merger agreement in 1979 that saw the WHA cease operations while the NHL absorbed the Winnipeg Jets, the Edmonton Oilers, the Hartford Whalers, and the Quebec Nordiques.[49] The owners initially rejected this merger agreement by one vote, but a massive boycott of Molson Brewery products by Canadian fans resulted in the Montreal Canadiens, which was owned by Molson, reversing its position, along with the Vancouver Canucks. In a second vote, the plan was approved.[50]

Wayne Gretzky played one season in the WHA for the Indianapolis Racers (eight games) and the Edmonton Oilers (72 games) before the Oilers joined the NHL for the 1979–80 season.[51] Gretzky went on to lead the Oilers to win four Stanley Cup championships in 1984, 1985, 1987, and 1988, and set single season records for goals (92 in 1981–82), assists (163 in 1985–86) and points (215 in 1985–86), as well as career records for goals (894), assists (1,963) and points (2,857).[51] In 1988, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that dramatically improved the league's popularity in the United States. By the turn of the century, nine more teams were added to the NHL: the San Jose Sharks, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Ottawa Senators, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Florida Panthers, the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers (now the Winnipeg Jets), and in 2000, the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets.[52] On July 21, 2015, the NHL confirmed that it had received applications from prospective ownership groups in Quebec City and Las Vegas for possible expansion teams,[53] and on June 22, 2016, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced the addition of a 31st franchise, based in Las Vegas and later named the Vegas Golden Knights, into the NHL for the 2017–18 season.[54] On December 4, 2018, the league announced a 32nd franchise in Seattle, later named the Seattle Kraken who joined in the 2021–22 season.[55]

There have been four league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all occurring after 1992. The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players' Association in April 1992, which lasted for ten days but was settled quickly with all affected games rescheduled.[56]

A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season.[56] The resulting collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was set for renegotiation in 1998, and extended to September 15, 2004.[57]

With no new agreement in hand when the contract expired, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and closed the league's head office for the 2004–05 season.[57] The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the Players' Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union initially said it would not accept. The lockout shut down the league for 310 days, making it the longest in sports history, as the NHL became the first professional sports league to lose an entire season.[57] A new collective bargaining agreement was eventually ratified in July 2005, including a salary cap. The agreement had a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the league to resume as of the 2005–06 season.[57]

On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout season took to the ice with all 30 teams. The NHL received record attendance in the 2005–06 season, with an average of 16,955 per game.[58] However, its television audience was slower to rebound due to American cable broadcaster ESPN's decision to drop its NHL coverage.[59] The league's post-lockout agreement with NBC gave the league a share of revenue from each game's advertising sales, rather than the usual lump sum paid up front for game rights. The league's annual revenues were estimated at $2.27 billion.[59]

On September 16, 2012, the labour pact expired, and the league again locked out the players.[60] The owners proposed reducing the players' share of hockey-related revenues from 57 percent to 47 percent.[61] All games were cancelled up to January 14, 2013, along with the 2013 NHL Winter Classic and the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend.[62][63][64][65] On January 6, a tentative agreement was reached on a ten-year deal.[66] On January 12, the league and the Players' Association signed a memorandum of understanding on the new deal, allowing teams to begin their training camps the next day, with a shortened 48-game season schedule that began on January 19.[67]

Player safety has become a major issue in the NHL, with concussions resulting from a hard hit to the head being the primary concern. Recent studies have shown how the consequences of concussions can last beyond player retirement.[68] This has significant effects on the league, as elite players have suffered from the aftereffects of concussions (such as Sidney Crosby being sidelined for approximately ten and a half months), which adversely affects the league's marketability.[69] In December 2009, Brendan Shanahan was hired to replace Colin Campbell, and was given the role of senior vice-president of player safety. Shanahan began to hand out suspensions on high-profile perpetrators responsible for dangerous hits, such as Raffi Torres receiving 25 games for his hit on Marian Hossa.[70]

To aid with removing high-speed collisions on icing, which had led to several potential career-ending injuries such as Hurricanes' defenceman Joni Pitkanen, the league mandated hybrid no-touch icing for the 2013–14 NHL season.[71]

On November 25, 2013, ten former NHL players (Gary Leeman, Rick Vaive, Brad Aitken, Darren Banks, Curt Bennett, Richie Dunn, Warren Holmes, Bob Manno, Blair Stewart, and Morris Titanic) sued the league for negligence in protecting players from concussions. The suit came three months after the National Football League agreed to pay former players US$765 million due to a player safety lawsuit.[72]

From 1952 to 1955, Marguerite Norris served as president of the Detroit Red Wings, being the first female NHL executive and the first woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup. In 1992, Manon Rhéaume became the first woman to play a game in any of the major professional North American sports leagues, as a goaltender for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a pre-season game against the St. Louis Blues, stopping seven of nine shots.[73][74] In 2016, Dawn Braid was hired as the Arizona Coyotes' skating coach, making her the first female full-time coach in the NHL.[75] The first female referees in the NHL were hired in a test-run during the league's preseason prospect tournaments in September 2019.[76]

In 2016, the NHL hosted the 2016 Outdoor Women's Classic, an exhibition game between the Boston Pride of the National Women's Hockey League and the Les Canadiennes of the Canadian Women's Hockey League, as part of the 2016 NHL Winter Classic weekend festivities.[77] In 2019, the NHL invited four women from the US and Canadian Olympic teams to demonstrate the events in All-Star skills competition before the All-Star Game. Due to Nathan MacKinnon choosing not to participate following a bruised ankle, Team USA's Kendall Coyne Schofield competed in the Fastest Skater competition in his place becoming the first woman to officially compete in the NHL's All-Star festivities.[78] The attention led the NHL to include a 3-on-3 women's game before the 2020 All-Star Game.[79] Rheaume returned to perform as a goaltender for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game's Breakaway Challenge.[80]

The Board of Governors is the ruling and governing body of the National Hockey League. In this context, each team is a member of the league, and each member appoints a Governor (usually the owner of the club), and two alternates to the Board. The current chairman of the Board is Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs. The Board of Governors exists to establish the policies of the league and to uphold its constitution. Some of the responsibilities of the Board of Governors include:[81]

• review and approve any changes to the league's rules.
• hiring and firing of the commissioner.
• review and approve the purchase, sale, or relocation of any member club.
• review and approve the Salary caps for member clubs.
• review and approve any changes to the structure of the game schedule.

The Board of Governors meets twice per year, in the months of June and December, with the exact date and place to be fixed by the Commissioner.

The chief executive of the league is Commissioner Gary Bettman. Some of the principal decision-makers who serve under the authority of the commissioner include:

• Deputy Commissioner & Chief Legal Officer: Bill Daly
• Executive VP & CFO: Craig Harnett
• Chief Operating Officer: Steve McArdle
• Executive VP & Director of Hockey Operations: Colin Campbell
• NHL Enterprises: Ed Horne
• Senior Vice-President of Player Safety: George Parros[82]

Notes

The Stanley Cup, shown here on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame, is awarded annually to the league champion.

The most prestigious team award is the Stanley Cup, which is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team that has the most points in the regular season is awarded the Presidents' Trophy.

The Montreal Canadiens are the most successful franchise in the league. Since the formation of the league in 1917, they have 25 NHL championships (three between 1917 and 1925 when the Stanley Cup was still contested in an interleague competition, twenty-two since 1926 after the Stanley Cup became the NHL's championship trophy). They also lead all teams with 24 Stanley Cup championships (one as an NHA team, twenty-three as an NHL team). Of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, the Montreal Canadiens are surpassed in the number of championships only by the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, who have three more.

The longest streak of winning the Stanley Cup in consecutive years is five, held by the Montreal Canadiens from 1955–56 to 1959–60.[106] The 1977 edition of the Montreal Canadiens, the second of four straight Stanley Cup champions, was named by ESPN as the second greatest sports team of all-time.[107]

The next most successful NHL franchise is the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13 Stanley Cup championships, most recently in 1967. The Detroit Red Wings, with 11 Stanley Cup championships, are the most successful American franchise.

The same trophy is reused every year for each of its awards. The Stanley Cup, much like its Canadian Football League counterpart, is unique in this aspect, as opposed to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Larry O'Brien Trophy, and Commissioner's Trophy, which have new ones made every year for that year's champion. Despite only one trophy being used, the names of the teams winning and the players are engraved every year on the Stanley Cup. The same can also be said for the other trophies reissued every year.

There are numerous trophies that are awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; they include, among others, the Art Ross Trophy for the league scoring champion (goals and assists), the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy for the goal-scoring leader, and the William M. Jennings Trophy for the goaltender(s) for the team with the fewest goals against them.

The other player trophies are voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association or the team general managers.[108] These individual awards are presented at a formal ceremony held in late June after the playoffs have concluded. The most prestigious individual award is the Hart Memorial Trophy which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player; the voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to judge the player who is the most valuable to his team during the regular season. The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the person deemed the best goaltender as voted on by the general managers of the teams in the NHL. The James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top defenceman, the Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the top rookie, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player deemed to combine the highest degree of skill and sportsmanship; all three of these awards are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

In addition to the regular season awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league wins the Jack Adams Award as selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association. The National Hockey League publishes the names of the top three vote getters for all awards, and then names the award winner during the NHL Awards Ceremony.[108]

Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Players cannot enter until three years have passed since their last professional game, currently tied with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame[109] for the shortest such time period of any major sport. One unique consequence has been Hall of Fame members (specifically, Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, and Mario Lemieux) coming out of retirement to play once more.[110] If a player was deemed significant enough, the three-year wait would be waived; only ten individuals have been honoured in this manner.[111] In 1999, Wayne Gretzky joined the Hall and became the last player to have the three-year restriction waived.[111] After his induction, the Hall of Fame announced that Gretzky would be the last to have the waiting period waived.

Broadcasting rights in Canada have historically included the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC), a Canadian tradition dating to 1952,[129][130] and even prior to that on radio since the 1920s.

The current national television and digital rightsholder is Rogers Communications, under a 12-year deal valued at C$5.2 billion which began in the 2014–15 season, as the national broadcast and cable television rightsholders. National English-language coverage of the NHL is carried primarily by Rogers' Sportsnet group of specialty channels; Sportsnet holds national windows on Wednesday and Sunday nights. Hockey Night in Canada was maintained and expanded under the deal, airing up to seven games nationally on Saturday nights throughout the regular season. CBC maintains Rogers-produced NHL coverage during the regular season and playoffs.[131] Sportsnet's networks also air occasional games involving all-U.S. matchups.[132][133][134][135][136][137]

Quebecor Media holds national French-language rights to the NHL, with all coverage airing on its specialty channel TVA Sports.[138][139]

Games that are not broadcast as part of the national rights deal are broadcast by Sportsnet's regional feeds, TSN's regional feeds, and RDS. Regional games are subject to blackout for viewers outside of each team's designated market.[140]

Historically, the NHL has never fared well on American television in comparison to the other American professional leagues. The league's American broadcast partners had been in flux for decades prior to 1995. Hockey broadcasting on a national scale was particularly spotty prior to 1981; NBC, CBS, and ABC held rights at various times during that period but with limited schedules during the second half of the regular season and the playoffs, along with some (but not all) of the Stanley Cup Finals. The NHL primarily was then only available on cable television after 1981, airing on the USA Network, SportsChannel America, and ESPN at various times. Since 1995, national coverage has been split between broadcast and cable, first with Fox and ESPN from 1995 to 1999, then followed by ABC and ESPN from 1999 to 2004. The U.S. national rights were then held by NBC and OLN (later renamed Versus, then NBCSN) between the 2004–05 NHL lockout and 2021.

The 2021–22 season marks the first year of seven-year agreements with ESPN and Turner Sports.[141] ESPN's deal includes 25 regular season games on ABC or ESPN, and 75 exclusive games streamed on ESPN+ and Hulu.[142] Turner Sports' coverage includes up to 72 regular season games on TNT or TBS.[143] The playoffs will be split between ESPN and Turner, with ABC televising the Stanley Cup Finals during even years and TNT televising the championship series during odd years.[141]

As in Canada, games not broadcast nationally are aired regionally within a team's home market and are subject to blackout outside of them. These broadcasters include regional sports network chains. Certain national telecasts are non-exclusive, and may also air in tandem with telecasts of the game by local broadcasters. However, national telecasts of these games are blacked out in the participating teams' markets to protect the local broadcaster.

The NHL Network's television panel at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at Rogers Arena in Vancouver

The league co-owns the NHL Network, a television specialty channel devoted to the NHL. Its signature show is NHL Tonight. The NHL Network also airs live games, but primarily simulcasts of one of the team's regional broadcasters.

NHL Centre Ice in Canada[144] and NHL Center Ice in the United States[145] are the league's subscription-based, out-of-market sports packages that offer access to out-of-market feeds of games through a cable or satellite television provider.

The league originally launched NHL GameCenter Live in 2008, allowing the streaming of out-of-market games over the internet.[146] MLB Advanced Media then took over of its day-to-day operations in 2016, renaming it NHL.tv.[147] Under its contract, Rogers Communications distributes the service in Canada as NHL Live;[148] it will be incorporated into Sportsnet Now Premium for the 2022-23 season.[149] Under ESPN's contract, the league's out-of-market streaming package was incorporated into ESPN+ for those viewers in the United States in 2021.[142]

Outside of Canada and the United States, NHL games are broadcast across Europe, in the Middle East, in Australia,[150] and in the Americas across Mexico, Central America, Dominican Republic, Caribbean, South America and Brazil, among others.[151]

NHL.tv is also available for people in most countries to watch games online, but blackout restrictions may still apply if a game is being televised in the user's country. For those in selected international markets where ESPN also holds the streaming rights, they must instead access games on the ESPN platform used in that particular country: ESPNPlayer, ESPN Play, the ESPN App, or Star+. And those in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, and Sweden must use Viaplay.[152]