NHL Hockey Teams Players
National Hockey League NHL was founded in Montreal, on year 1917, following the suspension of activity NHA (National Hockey Association) with only four teams in its composition evolved over time until 30 teams in present.
After a lockout of 2004-2005 season due to financial problems, NHL will be suspended and completely back in business a year later with a collective bargaining agreement for all teams in the competition.
NHL register an record of audience spectators and TV audience enjoying huge amounts of sponsorships contracts .Because of this NHL attracted a lot of talented players with hockey skills ,who came on for large amounts earnings , and evolving from its current NHL Hockey players from over 20 foreign countries.
A great role in the NHL league expansion development of Canada's hockey clubs and the growth of young talent both in America and Canada but also from other countries such as Eastern bloc countries in Europe.
The rules of the game after NHL runs the competition are a little different from those of the International Hockey Federation, the game can be interrupted in case of offside or ice reconditioning.In the 2004-2005 season interrupted rules "offside pass" and "two-pass lines "have been removed but was added to the" tag-up offside "which gives a chance to pull the attacking player returning in the neutral zone.
Another NHL rule different from the International Ice Hockey Federation is that a line judge can stop the game if a defender other than the goalie touches the puck before an attacking player.
Teams participating in the competition are distributed in the U.S. and Canada the ratio is 24 American teams to six Canadian teams .Most titled team is Montreal Canadiens NHL team with a record of 24 Stanley Cups won (23 NHL championship and 1 in the NHA championship) followed by the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13 Stanley Cups and Detroit Red Wings at 11 active championships.
The team that won the Stanley Cup the most times is Montreal Canadiens who won competition successive in years 1955-1960, followed by New York Islanders with three consecutive Cups in the 1980s-1983.Montreal Canadiens had a period of domination of the NHL league between 1976-1979 managed to capture the Stanley Cup four consecutive times.
Of all America's major sports leagues NHL are differentiated by the fact that the leaguehave hockey teams in Canada and the U.S. capital, Ottawa, Ontario and Washington DC
Like the NBA ,league hockey overseas is divided into two conferences each with three divisions, each division consists of five teams hochei.NHL switched to this system in the 1998-1999 season when the league added two divisions, thus making a total of six divisions,the framing of teams in divisions dating since 200-2001, season in which NHL teams Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets have been promoted in the league increasing the number of teams participating on Stanley Cup.
Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets hockey teams that play in the Western Conference even they are located on est zone,this results in significantly increased travel time for both teams.
NHL Teams Conferences
| Divsion | Team | Arena | Founded | Joined NHL | Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conferinta de Est |
|||||
| Atlantica | New Jersey Devils | Prudential Center | 1974* | John MacLean | |
| New York Islanders | Nassau Coliseum | 1972 | Scott Gordon | ||
| New York Rangers | Madison Square Garden | 1926 | John Tortorella | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | Wells Fargo Center | 1967 | Peter Laviolette | ||
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Consol Energy Center | 1967 | Dan Bylsma | ||
| NordEst | Boston Bruins | TD Garden | 1924 | Claude Julien | |
| Buffalo Sabres | HSBC Arena | 1970 | Lindy Ruff | ||
| Montreal Canadiens | Bell Centre | 1909 | 1917 | Jacques Martin | |
| Ottawa Senators | Scotiabank Place | 1992 | Cory Clouston | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Air Canada Centre | 1917 | Ron Wilson | ||
| SudEst | Atlanta Thrashers | Philips Arena | 1999 | Craig Ramsay | |
| Carolina Hurricanes | RBC Center | 1972 | 1979* | Paul Maurice | |
| Florida Panthers | BankAtlantic Center | 1993 | Peter DeBoer | ||
| Tampa Bay Lightning | St. Pete Times Forum | 1992 | Guy Boucher | ||
| Washington Capitals | Verizon Center | 1974 | Bruce Boudreau | ||
| Conferinta Vest |
|||||
| Centrala | Chicago Blackhawks | United Center | 1926 | Joel Quenneville | |
| Col. Blue Jackets | Nationwide Arena | 2000 | Scott Arniel | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | Joe Louis Arena | 1926 | Mike Babcock | ||
| Nashville Predators | Bridgestone Arena | 1998 | Barry Trotz | ||
| St. Louis Blues | Scottrade Center | 1967 | Davis Payne | ||
| NordVest | Calgary Flames | Scotiabank Saddledome | 1972* | Brent Sutter | |
| Colorado Avalanche | Pepsi Center | 1972 | 1979* | Joe Sacco | |
| Edmonton Oilers | Rexall Place | 1972 | 1979 | Tom Renney | |
| Minnesota Wild | Xcel Energy Center | 2000 | Todd Richards | ||
| Vancouver Canucks | Rogers Arena | 1945 | 1970 | Alain Vigneault | |
| Pacific | Anaheim Ducks | Honda Center | 1993 | Randy Carlyle | |
| Dallas Stars | American Airlines Center | 1967* | Marc Crawford | ||
| Los Angeles Kings | Staples Center | 1967 | Terry Murray | ||
| Phoenix Coyotes | Jobing.com Arena | 1972 | 1979* | Dave Tippett | |
| San Jose Sharks | HP Pavilion at San Jose | 1991 | Todd McLellan | ||
- Legenda
- An asterisk (*) denotes a hockey franchise move.
- The Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets all joined the NHL in 1979 as part of the NHL–WHA merger.
NHL season begins in September with team presentations matchs followed by regular season on first week of October until the end of April of next year and post season in which time are held matches to decide the winner of season Stanley Cup.In presentation season teams play on tournaments with other hockey teams from Europe championships such as Ice Hockey League KHL teams from Russia.
During each regular season participating hockey teams play a total of 82 games, 41 home and 41 on opponents ground.Every team plays 24 games in NHL Division (one each of six teams in the division) and 40 conference games with teams that are not in same division.Teams division plays at least once with each team fromother conference division.
Distributed points per game are two points for a win, one point for losing the game in overtime or penalty kicks, and 0 points for losing the game .From all U.S. major leagues, the NHL is the only league that awarded points to a teams that lose a game in overtime.
At the end of regular season team with the most points is declared the winner in the division and the NHL league team with the most points gets the Presidents' Trophy. The three champions from each conference along with another five teams with the highest score form a total of eight conference teams that qualify for playoffs.Stanley Cup playoffs is an eliminator tournament where the teams played each other a series of seven matches, but need four wins to advance to the next stage.
In each round the highest rank team has home court advantage, four matches being played on its ground-first and second as and when necessary the 5th and 7th.
Hockey Players Trophies Awards
- Presidents' Trophy- team with the most points during the regular season
- Art Ross Trophy for the player with the highest score achieved by the league goals or assists
- Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the player with most goals scored
- William M. Jennings Trophy awarded the best goalkeeper with the fewest goals against
- Hart Memorial Trophy goes to the player voted the best by team managers
- Vezina Trophy after the by the managers voting is granted best NHL goalie
- James Norris Memorial Trophy rewards the best defender
- Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player who combines fair play with hockey-play skills
- Conn Smythe Trophy for the best player from Stanley Cup playoffs
- Jack Adams Award is given to best NHL coach
An interesting aspect on Stanley's Cup is that trophy is passed from year to year to the winner, while in other United States majore leagues, such as the NFL ,Vince Lombardi Trophy is updated every year.
Stanley Cup Winners
| Team | Wons | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 24 | ||
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 13 | ||
| Detroit Red Wings | 11 | ||
| Boston Bruins | 5 | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 5 | ||
| Chicago Blackhawks | 4 | ||
| New York Islanders | 4 | ||
| New York Rangers | 4 | ||
| New Jersey Devils | 3 | ||
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 3 | ||
| Colorado Avalanche | 2 | ||
| Philadelphia Flyers | 2 | ||
| Anaheim Ducks | 1 | ||
| Calgary Flames | 1 | ||
| Carolina Hurricanes | 1 | ||
| Dallas Stars | 1 | ||
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 1 |
