The National Hockey League is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, and is one of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season. The NHL is the fifth-wealthiest professional sport league in the world by revenue, after the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the English Premier League (EPL).
Rodney Cory Langway is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played for the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals in the National Hockey League (NHL) and Birmingham Bulls of the World Hockey Association (WHA). He won the 1979 Stanley Cup with the Canadiens.
Robert Michael Gainey is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens from 1973 until 1989. After retiring from active play, he became a hockey coach and later an executive with the Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars organization before returning to Montreal as general manager from 2003 to 2010. Currently, Gainey serves as a team consultant for the St. Louis Blues as well as a volunteer senior advisor for the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. In 2017 Gainey was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Robert Norman "Badger Bob" Johnson was an American college, international, and professional ice hockey coach. He coached the Wisconsin Badgers men's ice hockey team from 1966 to 1982, where he led the Badgers to seven appearances at the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championships, including three titles. During his time as the head coach at Wisconsin, Johnson also coached the United States men's national ice hockey team at the 1976 Winter Olympics and seven other major championships, including the Canada Cup and IIHF World Championships. He then coached the Calgary Flames for five seasons that included a Stanley Cup Finals loss in 1986. Johnson achieved the peak of his professional coaching career in his only season as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990–91, when the Penguins won the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals, becoming the second American-born coach to win it and the first in 53 years. In August 1991, following hospitalization due to a brain aneurysm, Johnson was diagnosed with brain cancer. He died on November 26 of the same year.
Anthony James "Tony O" Esposito was a Canadian-American professional ice hockey goaltender, who played 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), 15 of those for the Chicago Black Hawks. He was one of the pioneers of the now popular butterfly style. Tony was the younger brother of Phil Esposito, a centre. Both brothers had notable careers and are enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Esposito's jersey number 35 was retired by the Blackhawks in 1988.
Brian Edward Bellows is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He played nearly 1,200 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Minnesota North Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Washington Capitals. He was a member of the 1993 Stanley Cup-winning Montreal Canadiens.
Douglas McArthur Jarvis is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers in the National Hockey League. He was a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Canadiens.
Robert David Smith is a Canadian professional ice hockey executive and former player. Smith was the majority owner of the Halifax Mooseheads junior hockey team for twenty years until February 2023. He played for the Minnesota North Stars and Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played in four Stanley Cup Finals and won the 1986 Stanley Cup with the Canadiens. Smith was born in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, but grew up in Ottawa, Ontario.
Neal LaMoy Broten is an American former professional ice hockey player. A member of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team that won the gold medal at Lake Placid in 1980, Broten was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000 having appeared in 1,099 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season games from 1981 to 1997 with the Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings. He is the older brother of Aaron and Paul Broten.
William Robert Baker is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 143 regular season games in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers between 1980 and 1983.
Steven Mark Christoff is an American former professional ice hockey forward who played 248 regular season games in the NHL with the Minnesota North Stars, Calgary Flames, and Los Angeles Kings in 1980–84.
William Masterton was a Canadian American professional ice hockey centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Minnesota North Stars in 1967–68. He is the only player in NHL history to die as a direct result of injuries suffered during a game, the result of massive head injuries suffered following a hit during a January 13, 1968 contest against the Oakland Seals.
Reed David Larson is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman and former captain of the Detroit Red Wings who played 904 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1976 and 1990. He featured in the 1990 Stanley Cup Finals with the Bruins.
Thomas Patrick Chorske is an American former professional ice hockey player. A forward, he played for eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL). In September, 2006, he was named color commentator for New Jersey Devils radio broadcasts, a position he only held for one season before resigning. He was replaced with former team color commentator Sherry Ross. Chorske returned to Minnesota and now works in business and is hockey analyst for Fox Sports North covering The NHL Minnesota Wild and University of Minnesota Golden Gopher NCAA hockey games.
Mark Robert Napier is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played over a thousand professional games between the National Hockey League and World Hockey Association. He was a two-time Stanley Cup winner in the NHL.
Gordon Douglas Roberts is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman who played 1,097 NHL regular season games from 1979 to 1994. He was a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is an honoured member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
Alan William Hangsleben is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman from Warroad, Minnesota. He played for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association between 1974 and 1979, and then in the National Hockey League with the Hartford Whalers, Washington Capitals, and Los Angeles Kings between 1979 and 1982. Internationally Hangsleben played for the American national team at three World Championships and the 1976 Canada Cup.
William Donald Nyrop was a professional ice hockey player who won three Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens in 1976, 1977, and 1978.
Steven Allan Jensen was an American professional ice hockey player and owner and director of Heartland Hockey Camps. Jensen was a forward who appeared in 438 games in the National Hockey League from 1976–82. For 39 years, Jensen served as founding owner and director of the Heartland Hockey Camp located in Deerwood, Minnesota, and was a full-time teaching professional with more than four decades of instruction experience, including 12 years of experience playing International and NHL hockey. He was a five-time member of the United States men's national ice hockey team and played in the 1976 Canada Cup.
Jarred Michael Tinordi is an American professional ice hockey defenseman for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 22nd overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He was also drafted in the seventh round by Metallurg Magnitogorsk during the 2010 KHL Junior Draft.
United States 