The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league consisting of 31 teams. Widely regarded as ice hockey’s counterpart to baseball’s Major League Baseball (MLB), or American football’s National Football League (NFL), the National Hockey League (NHL), has a rich and exciting history filled with mergers, conflicts, and lockouts. Many people love ice hockey, and some even consider it to be the greatest sport on earth. Besides being played on a giant sheet of ice, ice hockey is often harder-hitting and faster than most sports. The lively atmosphere in hockey arenas and cities make NHL matches something to always look forward to. If you are reading this, you are probably an avid NHL fan, or curious about how NHL became the largest hockey giant. Whatever the case, reading this article will increase your knowledge of the NHL’s expansion, structure, organizational transformation, and other important NHL aspects. In this article, we will examine some of the most significant events in NHL history, and how the National Hockey League became the hockey giant it is today.
The National Hockey League (NHL) was formed in 1917 by four Canadian hockey teams. The four clubs were Toronto Arenas, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Montreal Canadiens. Initially, when the NHL was formed, the founders had never in the wildest dream envisioned that their brainchild would one day grow to become a dominant player in North American Hockey. Instead, they had formed the NHL as a move to solve an owner problem in an old league. More specifically, some of the owners of Canadian hockey teams had become tired of the attitude of Toronto Blueshirts’ owner Eddie Livingstone and were looking for a way out. After other team owners of the National Hockey Association (NHA) grew impatient of Livingstone, they decided to form their own league, which would be in every aspect similar to the previous league, other than the fact that Eddie Livingstone would not be a part of it. At the time, the National Hockey League was one of the professional leagues that battled it out for the Stanley Cup.
In the following 25 years after the league was formed, many changes occurred, including the playoff format, scheduling, and composition of the league. The Boston Bruins became the first American team to join the National Hockey League in 1924. Shortly after, other American teams followed suit, and by 1926, six of the ten teams that made up the National Hockey League were from the US. The Ottawa Senators were the dominating force in the NHL in the 1920s, garnering 4 Stanley Cup wins and 6 league titles. Other significant events that occurred in the 1920s include Joe Malone’s 7 goals in a single game, George Hainsworth winning the Viena Trophy in its initial 3 years, and the first radio broadcast of a hockey game. In this era, exceptional players included Charlie Conacher, Frank Clancy, Bill Cook, Nels Stewart, Aurele Joliat, and Lester Patrick. Eddie Shore was the leading defenceman, and Howie Morenz was one of the most flashy hockey players.