The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional men's ice hockey league, founded in 1917. In 1892, Lord Stanley donated the Stanley Cup to be symbolic of the Canadian championship and appointed Philip Dansken Ross and Sheriff John Sweetland as its trustees. [138] As with the 1994–95 lockout, the owners were again demanding a salary cap, which the players were unwilling to consider until the season was on the verge of being lost. [63] The first players' union was formed February 12, 1957 by Red Wings player Ted Lindsay who had sat on the board of the NHL's Pension Society since 1952. [112], Led by Gretzky and Mark Messier, the Oilers won five Stanley Cup championships between 1984 and 1990. Originally playing maskless, he was the first starting goaltender in Pittsburgh’s history. [22], Livingstone continued to press claims in court throughout the 1920s, going as far as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, England. Television already had its detractors within the NHL, especially in Campbell. Eventually, Soviet-Bloc players streamed into the NHL with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. franchises", "N.B.A. Sadly though, the North Stars would be relocated to Dallas for the 1993-94 season where they became known simply as the Stars. [157] In 2017, the league expanded again to Las Vegas, Nevada with the Vegas Golden Knights. The NHL continued to expand, adding the Maroons and its first American team, the Boston Bruins in 1924, getting up to 10 teams by 1926. The NHL adopted the NHA's constitution, its rules, playing with six men to a side rather than the then-traditional seven and the NHA's split-season schedule. [60][61], Clint Benedict was the first goaltender to wear facial protection, donning it in 1930 to protect a broken nose. [5] By 1914, the rival Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) league was launched and the NHA champion would play off each season against the PCHA champion for the Stanley Cup, ending the challenge era. They would make the playoffs only twice in their brief nine-year existence. [147] The changes initially led to a sharp increase in scoring. In doing so he became the first black player in the NHL. A Maurice Richard Trophy, as the NHL's leading goal scorer, is a distinct possibility for the 22-year-old sniper. The NHLPA and NHL ratified a four-year extension to the CBA (through 2025-26) and a Return to Play Plan, July 10, 2020. All games are pre-owned. [65] The idea quickly gained popularity and when the union's founding was announced publicly, nearly every NHL player had signed up. Amazed with the initial popularity of the broadcasts, it inaugurated a 21-game package of games the following year. [130] Just as the entire season seemed to be lost, an 11th-hour deal was agreed on. He signed a $2.75 million contract, and lent instant credibility to the new league. The broadcasts quickly became the highest-rated show on Canadian television. The terms of this deal are set forth in a detailed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The prior Agreement was ratified by NHLPA membership on January 12, 2013, concluding a four-month lockout by NHL owners. Additionally, reliable role players such as Jim Roberts, the Plager brothers Barclay and Bob, Noel Picard, Gerry Melnyk, and numerous others were difference makers. The expansion Philadelphia Flyers were more of an aged guard when it came to skaters, but backstopped by a young and upcoming tandem in goal. [52] On March 13, 1948, Larry Kwong, the "China Clipper", becomes the first non-white player in the NHL, breaking the colour barrier. [98] In 1976, for the first time in four decades, the NHL approved franchise relocations; the Scouts moved after just two years in Kansas City to Denver to become the Colorado Rockies, while the California Golden Seals became the Cleveland Barons. [120], While European-born players were a part of the NHL since its founding, it was still rare to see them in the NHL until 1980, although the WHA employed a number of them. [134] The NHL continued its expansion into cities in the Southern United States. [98] Two years later, after failed overtures about merging the Barons with Washington and Vancouver, the Barons merged with the Minnesota North Stars, reducing the NHL to 17 teams for 1978–79. The National Hockey League came into existence with the suspension of the NHA in 1917. [4] Since the NHA's owners were notable, wealthy businessmen, the CHA did not complete a season, as the NHA easily recruited the top players, and interest in the CHA teams faded. [121] Hoping that they would one day be permitted to play in the NHL, teams drafted Soviet players in the 1980s, 27 in all by the 1988 draft;[123] however, defection was the only way such players could play in the NHL. [118][119], The NHL became first involved in international play in the mid-1970s, starting with the Summit Series in 1972 which pitted the top Canadian players of the NHL against the top players in the Soviet Union. [17], During the early 1920s, the NHL faced competition for players from two other major leagues: the PCHA and the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). ", "For 1 day, hockey rules in Wrigleyville", "Phoenix Coyotes Owner Moyes Will Sell Bankrupt Team to NHL", "Rangers End Their Slump as Coyotes Agree to a Sale", "AP SOURCES: COYOTES SALE APPROVED, HURDLE REMAINS", "NHL pauses regular season because of coronavirus", "NHL suspends 2019-20 season over coronavirus outbreak", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_National_Hockey_League&oldid=996956143, Articles which contain graphical timelines, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 29 December 2020, at 10:15. [114] Gretzky's trade to the Kings popularized ice hockey in the United States. The team would make two Stanley Cup Final appearances (1981, 1991). [106] The Islanders dominated both the regular season and the playoffs with the likes of Billy Smith, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, and Bryan Trottier. [122] The WHA opened the door, and players slowly joined the NHL, but those behind the Iron Curtain were restricted from following suit. The two would remain a goaltending duo for the North Stars for a little more than four seasons together. However, the NHA was suspended permanently in 1918 and ceased to be an organisation in 1920. Shortly after their inaugural season, Los Angeles drafted Robert “Butch” Goring in the fifth round of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft and he became a 30-goal scorer for the team spanning more than a decade. Initially, the league had no intention to expand past 14 teams, but the threat the WHA represented caused the league to change its plans. [58] The NHL itself adapted to be viewer-friendly. billsportsmaps.com. [129], In 1994, the players were locked out by the owners because of a lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The Oilers were led by Wayne Gretzky, who remained with the Oilers when they joined the NHL in 1979. Tue., Jan. 12, 2021 timer 4 min. [86] Orr twice won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer, the only defenceman in NHL history to do so. [9], One of the NHL's first superstars was the prolific goal-scorer Joe Malone, who scored 44 goals in 20 games in the NHL's first season,[10] of which five were netted on the NHL's opening night. [88] The Flyers established league records for penalty minutes—Dave "the Hammer" Schultz' total of 472 in 1974–75 remains a league record. After unsuccessfully attempting to resolve disputes with Eddie Livingstone, owner of the Toronto Blueshirts, executives of the three other NHA franchises suspended the NHA, and formed the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Livingstone team with a temporary team in Toronto, the Arenas. Sort by Flag Filter All None. 24 Offline Game Mode. Image view. With Parent as their cornerstone, the Flyers became arguably the most feared NHL team of the 1970s. [137] On February 16, 2005, Bettman announced the cancellation of the entire season. The Blues would reach the Final three years in a row, as they distinguished themselves to be the best of the six new teams. [155] The financially struggling Atlanta Thrashers were eventually sold to True North Sports and Entertainment in 2011, who then relocated the team to Winnipeg, a stark reversal of the league's Southward expansion more than a decade earlier. Bidding wars for players led many ECAHA teams to lose money, and it eventually folded on November 25, 1909. began headed by then NHL President Clarence Campbell, eventual Hockey Hall of Famer, Lorne “Gump” Worsley, Original North Star Bill Goldsworthy scored 48 goals for the team, The Seals did everything from wearing white skates at one point, first-round draft pick in the 1971 draft in order to snatch the legendary Guy Lafleur, to Ohio where they became the short-lived Cleveland Barons, in the fifth round of the 1969 NHL Amateur Draft, and Doug Harvey – all Stanley Cup champions. Though the Kings would eventually garner success after they acquired Dionne from the Detroit Red Wings in 1975, hockey never truly took off in California until “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky arrived on the scene in 1988. [140], Hoping to reduce the number of tie games during the regular season, the NHL decided that beginning in the 1999–2000 season, in any game tied after regulation time, both teams would be guaranteed one point, while the team that won in overtime would earn a second point. The Stastnys' defection made international headlines, and contributed to the first wave of Europeans' entrance into the NHL. [73] The Original Six era ended with the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals between the two-time defending champion Canadiens, and the Maple Leafs. Having acquired him in the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, goaltender Cesare Maniago remained Minnesota’s steadfast goaltender for nine straight seasons. As the sport’s next superstar, earn every shift on the ice with stellar play, big hits, and spectacular goals and prove you have the toughness and skill to lead your team to the Stanley Cup®. An eventual Hockey Hall of Famer, Bathgate was the club’s top-scorer during the 1967-68 season when he tallied 20 goals and 39 assists for 59 points in 74 games at the age of 35. [70] It was during the 1952 Stanley Cup Finals that the Legend of the Octopus was created. Bobby Hull was the most famous player to defect to the rival league, signing a $2.75 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets. [144] One of the most controversial changes was the league's zero-tolerance policy on obstruction penalties. [80], In the 1968–69 season, third-year defenceman Bobby Orr scored 21 goals to set an NHL record for goals by a defenceman en route to winning his first of eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the league's top defenceman. Having such strong goaltending with two legends who fed off of one another increased the strength of the Blues tenfold. [30] On December 13, 1933, Eddie Shore charged Ace Bailey causing a severe skull fracture, following what Shore thought was a check from Bailey, but was actually made by King Clancy. Eventually he would be joined by 40-year-old Stanley Cup champion and eventual Hockey Hall of Famer, Lorne “Gump” Worsley. Mario Lemieux overcame non-Hodgkin lymphoma to finish his NHL career with over 1,700 points and two Stanley Cup championships. The other California-based team was the Los Angeles Kings. The Oakland Seals were the most colorful franchise in terms of their personality and character. [89][90] They captured the 1974 Stanley Cup, becoming the first expansion team to win the league championship.[88]. Nevada with the Winnipeg Jets Golden Knights and 1990 appearances ( 1981, 1991 ), founded 1917. 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