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National Hockey League
Homepage: http://www.nhl.com
Rules:
http://www.nhl.com/rules/index.html
History
Hockey was a strictly armature
sport until 1904 when the first professional
league was created - oddly enough in the
United States. The league was known as the
International Pro Hockey League and it was
based in the iron-mining region of Michigan's
Upper Peninsula. That league ceased operations
in 1907, and was replaced with a bigger
league three years later, the National Hockey
Association (NHA). And shortly after that
came the Pacific Coast League (PCL). In
1914, a transcontinental championship series
was arranged between the two, with the winner
being awarded the coveted cup of Lord Stanley.
World War I caused disarray in the professional
hockey leagues, and resulted in the men
running the NHA to suspend operations.
The National Hockey League
(NHL) was formed soon after World War I
with its first sanctioned game being played
on December 19, 1917. At that time The clubs
played a 22-game schedule and employed six
players on a side.
The National Hockey League
started out with four teams
- Montreal Canadians
- Montreal Wanderers
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Arenas
The Champion of the National
Hockey League played the Champion of the
Pacific Coast League with the winner being
awarded the Stanely Cup. In March of 1918
The Toronto Arenas of the NHL defeated Vancouver
of the Pacific Coast League to be the first
NHL team to win the cup. The Pacific Coast
League folded in 1926, leaving the NHL to
control the Stanely Cup championship series.
By 1926 the NHL included
10 professional hockey teams. Today there
are 30 teams playing in the NHL with the
league's largest expansion occurring in
1967 when six teams joined the league. The
1990s saw seven new teams enter the NHL.
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