NHL

National Hockey League
Ligue nationale de hockey (French)

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 NHL season
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	November 26, 1917 (1917-11-26)
Inaugural season	1917–18
Commissioner	Gary Bettman
No. of teams	36
Most recent champion(s)	Vegas Golden Knights
Most titles	Montreal Canadiens

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 34 teams—26 in the United States and 8 in Canada. The National Hockey League was organized at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal on 26 November 1917, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA).

At its inception, the NHL had four teams, all in Canada, thus the adjective "National" in the league's name. The league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, and has since consisted of both American and Canadian teams. From 1942 to 1967, the league had only six teams, collectively (if not contemporaneously) nicknamed the "Original Six". The NHL added six new teams to double its size at the 1967 NHL expansion. The league then increased to 18 teams by 1974 and 21 teams in 1979. Between 1991 and 2000, the NHL further expanded to 30 teams. It added six more teams between 2017-2023.

Teams

Conference	Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity	Founded	Joined	General manager	Head coach	Captain
Eastern	Atlantic	Boston Bruins	Boston, Massachusetts	TD Garden	17,850	1924		Don Sweeney	Jim Montgomery	Brad Marchand
		Buffalo Sabres	Buffalo, New York	KeyBank Center	19,070	1970		Kevyn Adams	Don Granato	Kyle Okposo
		Detroit Red Wings	Detroit, Michigan	Little Caesars Arena	19,515	1926		Steve Yzerman	Derek Lalonde	Dylan Larkin
		Hartford Whalers	Hartford, Connecticut	Heritage Bank Center	19,538	1979		Anthony Padilla	Bob Myers	Keith Dineen
		Florida Panthers	Sunrise, Florida	Amerant Bank Arena	19,250	1993		Bill Zito	Paul Maurice	Aleksander Barkov
		Montreal Canadiens	Montreal, Quebec	Bell Centre	21,105	1917		Kent Hughes	Martin St. Louis	Nick Suzuki
		Ottawa Senators	Ottawa, Ontario	Canadian Tire Centre	19,347	1992		Steve Staios	Jacques Martin	Brady Tkachuk
		Tampa Bay Lightning	Tampa, Florida	Amalie Arena	19,092	1992		Julien BriseBois	Jon Cooper	Steven Stamkos
		Toronto Maple Leafs	Toronto, Ontario	Scotiabank Arena	18,819	1917		Brad Treliving	Sheldon Keefe	John Tavares
	Metropolitan	Carolina Hurricanes	Raleigh, North Carolina	PNC Arena	18,680	1972		Don Waddell	Rod Brind'Amour	Jordan Staal
		Columbus Blue Jackets	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	18,144	2000		Jarmo Kekalainen	Pascal Vincent	Boone Jenner
		New Jersey Devils	Newark, New Jersey	Prudential Center	16,514	1974		Tom Fitzgerald	Lindy Ruff	Nico Hischier
		New York Islanders	Elmont, New York	UBS Arena	17,255	1972		Lou Lamoriello	Lane Lambert	Anders Lee
		Quebec Nordiques	Quebec City, Quebec	XL Center	19,538	1979		Alicia Plante	Ian Warfield	Jason Lindros
		New York Rangers	New York City, New York	Madison Square Garden	18,006	1926		Chris Drury	Peter Laviolette	Jacob Trouba
		Philadelphia Flyers	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Wells Fargo Center	19,500	1967		Daniel Briere	John Tortorella	Vacant
		Pittsburgh Penguins	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	PPG Paints Arena	18,387	1967		Kyle Dubas	Mike Sullivan	Sidney Crosby
		Washington Capitals	Washington, D.C.	Capital One Arena	18,573	1974		Brian MacLellan	Spencer Carbery	Alexander Ovechkin
Western	Central	Arizona Coyotes	Tempe, Arizona	Mullett Arena	4,600	1972		Bill Armstrong	Andre Tourigny	Vacant
		Chicago Blackhawks	Chicago, Illinois	United Center	19,717	1926		Kyle Davidson	Luke Richardson	Vacant
		Colorado Avalanche	Denver, Colorado	Ball Arena	17,809	1972		Chris MacFarland	Jared Bednar	Gabriel Landeskog
		Dallas Stars	Dallas, Texas	American Airlines Center	18,532	1967		Jim Nill	Peter DeBoer	Jamie Benn
		Louisville Cowboys	Louisville, Kentucky	Alpine Stadium	19,837	2023		Patrick Verbeek	Luna Keefe	Cody Taylor
		Minnesota Wild	Saint Paul, Minnesota	Xcel Energy Center	17,954	2000		Bill Guerin	John Hynes	Jared Spurgeon
		Nashville Predators	Nashville, Tennessee	Bridgestone Arena	17,159	1998		Barry Trotz	Andrew Brunette	Roman Josi
		St. Louis Blues	St. Louis, Missouri	Enterprise Center	18,724	1967		Doug Armstrong	Drew Bannister	Brayden Schenn
		Winnipeg Jets	Winnipeg, Manitoba	Canada Life Centre	15,321	1999		Kevin Cheveldayoff	Rick Bowness	Adam Lowry
	Pacific	Anaheim Ducks	Anaheim, California	Honda Center	17,174	1993		Pat Verbeek	Greg Cronin	Vacant
		Calgary Flames	Calgary, Alberta	Scotiabank Saddledome	19,289	1972		Craig Conroy	Ryan Huska	Mikael Backlund
		Edmonton Oilers	Edmonton, Alberta	Rogers Place	18,347	1972		Ken Holland	Kris Knoblauch	Connor McDavid
		Portland Lumberjacks	Portland, Oregon	Moda Center	21,397	2023		N/A	N/A	N/A
		Los Angeles Kings	Los Angeles, California	Crypto.com Arena	18,230	1967		Rob Blake	Todd McLellan	Anze Kopitar
		San Jose Sharks	San Jose, California	SAP Center	17,562	1991		Mike Grier	David Quinn	Logan Couture
		Seattle Kraken	Seattle, Washington	Climate Pledge Arena	17,151	2021		Ron Francis	Dave Hakstol	Vacant
		Vancouver Canucks	Vancouver, British Columbia	Rogers Arena	18,910	1945		Patrik Allvin	Rick Tocchet	Quinn Hughes
		Vegas Golden Knights	Paradise, Nevada	T-Mobile Arena	17,500	2017		Kelly McCrimmon	Bruce Cassidy	Mark Stone

Timeline

Year(s)	Teams	Notes
1942-1967	Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins
1967-1969	Toronto, Montreal, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Oakland, Minnesota, Los Angeles
1969-1972	Toronto, Montreal, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Oakland, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Buffalo
1973-1979	Toronto, Montreal, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Oakland, Minnesota, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Buffalo, Elmont, Atlanta, Washington, Kansas City
1979-1980	Vezina: San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Arizona, Seattle, Las Vegas

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