In 1917, the NHL rose up, overthrowing the floundering NHA (National Hockey Association). The NHA couldn't field as appealing of a product because it's teams were based in America and most of it's best players were off fighting in World War 1. The NHL started out with 4 teams: the Montreal Wanderers, the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, and Toronto Arenas.
Superstar Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens was the first man to take the NHL into the homes of Canadian hockey fans. In the first day of play, he put up 5 goals against the Ottawa Senators. Shortly afterwards however, the NHL started to face the same problem as the NHA before it. Then, a fire in the Montreal Forum, which housed the Canadiens and the Wanderers, forced the Wanderers to fold operations. The year after the fire, after playing with three teams in the league, the Arenas were on the path to folding. A loan restructuring and a new owner saved the team, and subsequently the NHL as the newly named Toronto St. Pats were rebuilt.
The NHL continued to grow, adding the Quebec Bulldogs the same year that the St. Pats were born. Then, the first American team was introduced into the NHL. In 1924, the Boston Bruins came into being. After a series of moves, the Bulldogs ended up becoming the second American team in 1925, being renamed the New York Americans. In 1925-26, more American teams jumped into the NHL with the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Detroit Cougars entering the mix. In 1927, the St. Pats were purchased by Conn Smythe and were immediately changed to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The success was short lived, as heading into the 1930's the NHL faced more economic hardship. The Pirates and Senators moved to Philadelphia and St. Louis, but lasted only a year. The Montreal Maroons, who became active in the late twenties, folded in 1939 with the New York Americans following suit in 1942. That left the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and the newly dubbed Detroit Red Wings. Today, that group is known as the Original Six.
20 years later, after TV contracts were signed in America and Canada and the league had more money than they knew what to do with, the league decided to expand with 6 more teams, doubling in size from six to twelve teams. The new teams were the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angles Kings, Oakland Seals, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The move was designed to corner the west coast of the United States because there were some startup leagues trying to make a name for themselves out there. In 1967, the new NHL was born.
The NHL continued to expand, due to fan criticism and the buzz created by star players such as Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, and Gordie Howe who at this point was 41 years old. In 1970, the NHL expanded again, this time to 14 teams. The new teams were the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks were created after western Canada was almost set ablaze by NHL fans who were outraged that they didn't get a franchise in the original expansion.
Another notable expansion was the merger for the WHA (World Hockey Association) and the NHL in 1979. The WHA started up and tried to offer NHL star players bigger salaries if they would leave the NHL to play there. However, after many star players bolted, the WHA was left with almost no money and the NHL with no players. The two sides reached a deal where they would merge but only four teams were put in to the NHL from the WHA: the Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, and Quebec Nordiques were the four lucky franchises.
The 1990's and 2000-01 were the years the NHL rounded out. In 1991, the San Jose Sharks were created followed by the Tampa Bay Lightning and the returning Ottawa Senators in 1993. 1995 was the relocation year of the Quebec Nordiques to Colorado to become of the Colorado Avalanche. Also relocating during this time were the Winnipeg Jets to Phoenix to become the Coyotes in 1996 and the Whalers to North Carolina to become the Hurricanes in 1997. In 1998, the Nashville Predators came about with the Atlanta Thrashers being created in 1999. The final teams created during this time were the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild in 2000.
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