Timeline
The following is a complete history of organizational changes in the National Hockey League (NHL). The NHL was founded in 1917 as a successor to the National Hockey Association (NHA), starting out with four teams from the predecessor league, and eventually grew to thirty-two in its current state. The NHL has expanded and contracted numerous times throughout its history, including in 1979 when four teams came over from the World Hockey Association (WHA).
The four teams that began the inaugural NHL season were the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the original Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas. However, after completing four games, the Wanderers withdrew from the league due to their arena burning down, and the NHL continued that season and the next with only three teams.
| Withdrew after four games into the 1917–18 season § |
| Montreal Canadiens | Montreal Wanderers § | Ottawa Senators | Toronto Arenas | |||
In its third season, 1919–20, the NHL underwent its first expansion, adding the Quebec Bulldogs. Toronto changed its name to Toronto St. Patricks.
| First season in the NHL * |
| Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | Quebec Bulldogs * | Toronto St. Patricks | |||
For the 1920–21 season, Quebec relocated to Hamilton and changed their name, becoming the Hamilton Tigers.
| Hamilton Tigers | Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | Toronto St. Patricks | |||
Two new teams joined the NHL in its eighth season, the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Maroons, the first expansion team in the United States.
| First season in the NHL * | Last season in the NHL † |
| Boston Bruins * | Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | ||
| Hamilton Tigers † | Montreal Maroons * | Toronto St. Patricks | ||
The next season, the NHL added two new teams, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Americans. The Americans were stocked by purchasing the contracts of the Hamilton Tigers players, and the Tigers franchise was subsequently revoked by the league.
| First season in the NHL * |
| Boston Bruins | Montreal Maroons | Pittsburgh Pirates * | Toronto St. Patricks | |||
| Montreal Canadiens | New York Americans * | Ottawa Senators | ||||
The NHL continued to expand the following 1926–27 season, adding the Chicago Black Hawks, the Detroit Cougars, and the New York Rangers, growing to ten teams, thus more than doubling its size in its first decade of existence. The league realigned into two divisions: the American Division and the Canadian Division. Despite its name, the Canadian Division contained at least one team based in the U.S. throughout its existence. At the same time, the Stanley Cup was contested between two NHL teams for the first time instead of outside league.
Midway through the 1926–27 season, the Toronto St. Patricks were sold and renamed the Toronto Maple Leafs, however the league ruled the team must use the St. Patricks name until season's end.
| 1926–27 was the first season in the NHL * |
For the 1930–31 season, the Pirates moved from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, becoming the Philadelphia Quakers, and Detroit was renamed the Detroit Falcons.
| Last season before hiatus, rejoined NHL later ^ | Last season in the NHL † |
After fourteen seasons of steady expansion, the NHL contracted to eight teams, dropping the Philadelphia Quakers and the original Ottawa Senators for the 1931–32 season.
| Canadian Division | American Division |
|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins |
| Montreal Maroons | Chicago Black Hawks |
| New York Americans | Detroit Falcons |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | New York Rangers |
For the 1932–33 season, after missing one season, the original Ottawa Senators rejoined the NHL, and the Detroit Falcons were renamed the Detroit Red Wings.
| Rejoined NHL * |
For the 1934–35 season, the Ottawa Senators relocated, becoming the St. Louis Eagles.
| Last season in the NHL † |
The Eagles folded after one season, and the NHL was once again an eight-team league for three seasons.
| Withdrew after the 1937–38 season † |
The Montreal Maroons withdrew from the league for the 1938–39 season, further reducing the number of teams in the NHL to seven, shrinking to the size the league was in 1925–26. Play continued for four seasons with seven teams, with one single league table instead of any conference or divisions.
| Boston Bruins | Detroit Red Wings | New York Rangers | Toronto Maple Leafs | |||
| Chicago Black Hawks | Montreal Canadiens | New York Americans | ||||
The New York Americans changed their name to the Brooklyn Americans for the 1941–42 season, their last.
| Folded after the 1941–42 season † |
| Boston Bruins | Chicago Black Hawks | Montreal Canadiens | Toronto Maple Leafs | |||
| Brooklyn Americans † | Detroit Red Wings | New York Rangers | ||||
The 1942–43 season saw the folding of the Brooklyn Americans and ushered in an unprecedented era of franchise stability in the NHL, which lasted without any organizational changes for twenty-five seasons. Eventually, the six teams that competed in the league during this period would come to be known as the Original Six.
| Boston Bruins | Detroit Red Wings | New York Rangers | ||
| Chicago Black Hawks | Montreal Canadiens | Toronto Maple Leafs | ||
The 1967 expansion doubled the number of teams in the league, with an upfront expansion fee of $2 million each ($18.3 million today). [1] For the 1967–68 season, six new teams were added to the NHL: the California Seals, the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the St. Louis Blues.
Within a month into their first season, the California Seals became the Oakland Seals.
| All Original Six teams were placed in the East Division |
| All 1967 expansion teams were placed in the West Division |
The Oakland Seals were renamed the Bay Area Seals for two games before changing their name again to the California Golden Seals for their fourth season in 1970–71. The same season the NHL added two new teams, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks, paying an expansion fee of $6 million each ($47.1 million today). [1] The Sabres and the Canucks were placed in the East (partially as an effort to provide greater balance between the divisions, and also so they would have rivalries with the other two Canadian teams), while the Chicago Black Hawks moved to the West.
| 1970–71 was the first season in the NHL * |
Two more teams joined for the 1972–73 NHL season, the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames. With the competing World Hockey Association (WHA) starting that same season, the NHL was not able to raise its expansion fee from the price of two years earlier, $6 million ($43.7 million today), with the Islanders paying an additional $5 million ($36.4 million today) to the New York Rangers for infringing on their territory. [2] The Islanders were placed in the East and the Flames were placed in the West.
| 1972–73 was the first season in the NHL * |
Two more teams joined for the 1974–75 NHL season, the Washington Capitals and the Kansas City Scouts, but the ongoing competition from the WHA meant that the overall revenue stream of the NHL had not improved, so the league kept the expansion fee for new owners at the $6 million ($37.1 million today) of two years and four years earlier. [2] The earnings situation for the new franchises was so poor that (at least) the Capitals were able to negotiate a reduction to a total fee of $2.85 million ($17.6 million today). [2]
With 18 teams, the league realigned into four divisions and two conferences. The teams were mixed up regardless of North American geography, and thus the new conferences and divisions were not named after geographical references. The East Division became the Prince of Wales Conference and consisted of the Adams Division and Norris Division. The West Division became the Clarence Campbell Conference and consisted of the Patrick Division and Smythe Division.
| 1974–75 was the first season in the NHL * |
Going into the 1976–77 NHL season, the California Golden Seals relocated to become the Cleveland Barons, and the Kansas City Scouts moved to become the Colorado Rockies.
| Dissolved after the 1977–78 season † |
For the first time since the 1942–43 season, the NHL contracted, merging the Cleveland Barons into the Minnesota North Stars. The North Stars then took the Barons' place in the Adams Division.
Following seven seasons of revenue draining competition, the NHL–WHA merger was completed for the start of the 1979–80 NHL season. Four teams came over from the WHA, paying an expansion fee of $7.5 million each ($31.5 million today). [1] These new NHL teams were the Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and the original Winnipeg Jets. This also doubled the number of Canadian teams in the league. Standing at 21 teams for twelve seasons, this was one of the longer periods of league stability, though surpassed by twenty-five seasons of the Original Six, when no additions, moves, nor name changes occurred.
The Nordiques were placed in the Adams Division, the Whalers in the Norris, and the Oilers and the Jets in the Smythe. The Washington Capitals moved from the Norris to the Patrick Division. The divisions were effectively meaningless as all teams played a balanced schedule and each round of the playoffs was re-seeded by league point standings rather than divisional.
| Teams from the WHA * |
For the 1980–81 season, Atlanta relocated and became the Calgary Flames.
For the 1981–82 season, the teams were realigned to reduce travel. Also, the Norris Division moved to the Campbell Conference and the Patrick Division moved to the Wales Conference.
For the 1982–83 season, the Colorado Rockies moved, becoming the New Jersey Devils. The team was moved to the Patrick Division, while the Winnipeg Jets took their place in the Smythe Division.
The Chicago Black Hawks changed their name to Chicago Blackhawks for the 1986–87 season.
In 1990, the owners developed a plan to expand the NHL to 28 teams within a decade. [3] The plan was enacted, creating ten years of rapid expansion and relocation in the NHL. While the pace of expansion and relocation slowed after the 1999–2000 season, growth and change continue to be a normal development.
The 1991–92 season saw the addition of the San Jose Sharks, paying an expansion fee of $45 million ($100.7 million today). [1] The Sharks were placed in the Smythe Division with the other West Coast teams.
| 1991–92 was the first season in the NHL * |
Two new teams joined the league the following season, the Ottawa Senators and the Tampa Bay Lightning, paying an expansion fee of $45 million each ($97.7 million today). [1] The Senators were placed in the Adams Division, and the Lightning in the Norris, so all four divisions would have six teams each.
| 1992–93 was the first season in the NHL * |
The next season, another two teams were added, the Florida Panthers and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, paying an expansion fee of $50 million each ($105.5 million today), with Anaheim paying an additional $25 million ($52.7 million today) to the Los Angeles Kings for infringing on their region. [1] The Minnesota North Stars relocated, becoming the Dallas Stars.
The league changed the conference names from Wales and Campbell to Eastern and Western, respectively, and changed the division names from Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe to Northeast, Atlantic, Central, and Pacific, respectively.
Finally, the league realigned several teams. With the expansion Mighty Ducks joining the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, the original Winnipeg Jets left the Pacific for the Central, the Tampa Bay Lightning left the Central Division and Western Conference for the Atlantic and the Eastern, respectively, and the Pittsburgh Penguins left the Atlantic Division for the Northeast to make room for the expansion Florida Panthers. [4]
| 1993–94 was the first season in the NHL * |
For the 1995–96 season, the Quebec Nordiques relocated and became the Colorado Avalanche. The team also switched conferences, moving from the Northeast Division in the East to the Pacific Division in the West.
The 1996–97 season, the original Winnipeg Jets moved, becoming the Phoenix Coyotes. The team remained in the Central Division.
The 1997–98 season saw the Hartford Whalers relocate, becoming the Carolina Hurricanes. The team remained in the Northeast Division.
The Nashville Predators joined the league for the 1998–99 season, paying an expansion fee of $80 million ($149.5 million today). [1] The league also realigned to a strictly geographic six-division structure, with three per conference. The Eastern Conference had the Atlantic, Northeast, and Southeast divisions, while the Western Conference had the Central, Northwest, and Pacific divisions. The expansion Predators were placed in the Central Division. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the only team to switch conferences, moving from the Western to the Eastern and the Northeast Division, rejoining classic East Division and Adams Division rivals for the first time since the respective 1973–74 and 1980–81 seasons.
| 1998–99 was the first season in the NHL * |
The 1999–2000 season saw another team start play, the Atlanta Thrashers, paying the same expansion fee of $80 million ($146.3 million today) as the Predators a year earlier. [1] The Thrashers were placed in the Southeast Division.
| 1999–2000 was the first season in the NHL * |
For its 2000–01 season, the NHL added the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild, each paying the same expansion fee of $80 million ($141.5 million today) as Nashville and Atlanta in the previous two years. [1] The Blue Jackets were placed in the Central Division and the Wild in the Northwest so all six divisions would each have five teams.
For the next 17 seasons, the NHL maintained 30 teams, the second longest period of membership stability in its history, the first being the Original Six.
| 2000–01 was the first season in the NHL * |
The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim changed their name to the Anaheim Ducks in the 2006–07 season. The newly renamed Ducks would win the Stanley Cup that season.
The Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, becoming the second version of the Winnipeg Jets, beginning in the 2011–12 season. The team remained in the Southeast Division.
The 2011 relocation of the former Atlanta Thrashers franchise to the Winnipeg Jets prompted the league to discuss realignment. However, disagreement between the NHL Board of Governors and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) caused it to be pushed to 2013.
On December 5, 2011, the NHL Board of Governors originally approved a conference realignment plan to move from a six-division setup to a four-conference structure. [5] However, on January 6, 2012, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) rejected that proposed realignment. [6] [7] A new joint NHL-NHLPA plan was proposed in February 2013 as a modification of the previous plan with both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings moving to the East and the Winnipeg Jets moving to the West. The NHLPA officially gave its consent to the NHL's proposed plan on March 7, [8] and then the NHL's Board of Governors approved the realignment on March 14, to be implemented prior to the 2013–14 season. [9] The league then announced the names of the divisions on July 19: the two eight-team divisions in the Eastern Conference would be the Atlantic Division and the Metropolitan Division, and the two seven-team divisions in the Western Conference would be the Central Division and the Pacific Division. [10]
The Phoenix Coyotes changed their name to Arizona Coyotes for the 2014–15 season.
On June 22, 2016, the Board of Governors voted 30–0 to add an expansion franchise in Las Vegas for the 2017–18 season, charging an expansion fee of $500 million ($634.8 million today). [1] The Vegas Golden Knights joined the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
| 2017–18 was the first season in the NHL * |
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which delayed the conclusion of the 2019–20 season and delayed and shortened the 2020–21 season, the NHL adopted a temporary divisional alignment for 2020–21. The primary considerations acknowledged by the league were the ongoing restrictions and quarantine requirements affecting the ability of its teams to cross the Canada–United States border. As a result, on December 20, 2020, the league announced it had temporarily suspended the Eastern and Western Conferences and realigned to four non-conference divisions: North, East, Central, and West. The North Division consisted of all seven Canadian teams and was the first all-Canadian division since the league first expanded into the United States in 1924. The regular season lasted 56 games and consisted solely of intra-divisional play.
On December 4, 2018, Seattle was announced as the location of a thirty-second franchise to begin play in the 2021–22 season, with an expansion fee of $650 million. [11] The league reverted to its pre-COVID-19 divisions in 2021. Under the realignment of those divisions that was announced prior to the pandemic, the expansion Seattle Kraken were placed in the Pacific Division, while the Arizona Coyotes returned to the Central Division. [11]
| 2021–22 was the first season in the NHL * | 2023–24 was the last season in the NHL † |
On April 18, 2024, the Arizona Coyotes were deactivated, and its players and personnel were transferred to a new expansion team in Utah. The Coyotes franchise would be reactivated if a suitable arena is built in Arizona; if not, the Coyotes will cease operations. [12]
| 2024–25 is the first season in the NHL * |
After the 2000–01 season, when the NHL completed its 1990 plan to grow to 30 teams, the league made statements to the effect that no further expansion or even relocation was planned for the foreseeable future. As shown above, no changes occurred until a relocation in the 2011–12 season, followed by semi-regular growth and change.
There have been rumors and talks of potential new sites for existing or new teams in various locations in the United States and Canada, [13] including Quebec City, Hartford, Portland (Oregon), Houston, Cincinnati, Saskatoon, Kansas City, Atlanta, Cleveland, Milwaukee, San Diego and second Southern Ontario team (although the league has actively blocked all of the Southern Ontario efforts to date, including in Hamilton, citing territorial concerns with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs).
The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area, which competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division and the Pacific Division (1998–2020) in the Western Conference, and the West Division (2020–2021). They played at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix from 1996 to 2003, at Glendale's Gila River Arena from 2003 to 2022, and at Mullett Arena in Tempe from 2022 to 2024.
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey major league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major league to compete with the National Hockey League (NHL) since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926. Although the WHA was not the first league since that time to attempt to challenge the NHL's supremacy, it was by far the most successful in the modern era.
The Winnipeg Jets were a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. They began play in the World Hockey Association (WHA) in 1972. The club joined the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1979 after the NHL merged with the WHA. Due to mounting financial troubles, in 1996 the franchise moved to Phoenix, Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes. The team played their home games at Winnipeg Arena.
The 1993–94 NHL season was the 77th regular season of the National Hockey League. The league expanded to 26 teams with the addition of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Florida Panthers. The New York Rangers defeated the Vancouver Canucks in seven games to become the Stanley Cup champions. It was the Rangers' fourth championship overall, and their first in 54 seasons, since 1939–40.
The National Hockey League's Norris Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Prince of Wales Conference. When the NHL realigned into geographic divisions in 1981, the division moved to the Clarence Campbell Conference, where it comprised the league's Great Lakes and Midwest teams, with the Detroit Red Wings being the only member to remain from the previous season. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. The division was named in honour of James E. Norris, longtime owner of the Red Wings. It is the forerunner of the NHL's Central Division. Intense rivalries developed between its constituent teams, which through the 1980s were noted for enforcer-heavy squads that had poor performances – qualifying for the playoffs with .500 points percentages, and achieving no Stanley Cup titles or appearances in the finals – but great local popularity. Despite the division's reputation, the 1985–86 St. Louis Blues made an impressive cinderella run by reaching the Conference Finals where it took the Calgary Flames 7 games to dispatch them following The Monday Night Miracle, and the 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars reached the Stanley Cup finals.
The National Hockey League's Smythe Division was formed in 1974 as part of the Clarence Campbell Conference. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honour of Conn Smythe, who was a longtime owner, general manager, and head coach in the league. It is the forerunner of the NHL's Northwest Division and Pacific Division.
The National Hockey League's Central Division was formed in 1993 as part of the Western Conference in a league realignment. Its predecessor was the Norris Division and its also one of two successors to the Northwest Division. The Chicago Blackhawks have been a member of the Central Division in all of its seasons since the original 1993 realignment. The Arizona Coyotes, Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues were also original members of the division, but were realigned to a different division for a while before returning; both the Coyotes and Stars were moved to the Pacific Division in 1998, while the Blues were moved to the West Division during the temporary 2021 realignment. Three of its teams—the Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, and Winnipeg Jets —joined the NHL during a league expansion phase between 1998 and 2000. The fourth team in that three-year expansion period, the Columbus Blue Jackets, was once a member of the Central Division, but moved to the Metropolitan Division after the 2013 realignment.
The Western Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League (NHL) used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Eastern Conference.
The West Division of the National Hockey League existed from 1967 until 1974 when the league realigned into two conferences of two divisions each. The division was reformed for the 2020–21 NHL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The expansion era of the National Hockey League (NHL) began when six new teams were added for the 1967–68 season, ending the Original Six era. The six existing teams were grouped into the newly created East Division, and the expansion teams—the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues—formed the West Division.
The 1987 Stanley Cup playoffs, the playoff tournament of the National Hockey League (NHL) began on April 8, after the conclusion of the 1986–87 NHL season. It concluded on May 31, with the Edmonton Oilers defeating the Philadelphia Flyers to win the Stanley Cup. In an attempt to reduce the number of first round upsets, the NHL expanded the Division Semifinals series from a best-of-five series to a best-of-seven series.
The 1979 NHL expansion was the culmination of several years of negotiations between the National Hockey League (NHL) and the World Hockey Association (WHA). The result of the negotiations was that the WHA and its six surviving franchises folded, and the owners of four of the teams – the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets – were granted expansion franchises, which commenced play in the NHL in the 1979–80 season. The agreement officially took effect on June 22; it ended the seven-year existence of the WHA and re-established the NHL as the sole major league in North American professional ice hockey.
The National Hockey League (NHL) has undergone several rounds of expansion and other organizational changes during its history to reach its current thirty-two active teams: twenty-five in the United States, and seven in Canada. The newest additions to the league are Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken in 2021. The league has also relocated several franchises, most recently in 2011 when the former Atlanta Thrashers became the second and current incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets.
The 1967 National Hockey League (NHL) expansion added six new franchises for the 1967–68 season, doubling the size of the league to 12 teams. It was the largest expansion undertaken at one time by an established major sports league and the first change in the composition of the NHL since 1942, ending the era of the Original Six.
The 2013–14 NHL season was the 97th season of operation of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season features a realignment of the league's 30 teams from a six to a four division format. The regular season began October 1, and concluded April 13. The Stanley Cup playoffs began April 16.
The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg. The Jets compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The team is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment, playing its home games at Canada Life Centre.
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