What Were The First NHL Teams?
The first NHL teams were the Montreal Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Montreal Wanderers.
The Original Six
The National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in 1917 with just five teams: the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Arenas, and Quebec Bulldogs. These teams became known as the “Original Six.” The first expansion didn’t come until 1967, when the NHL doubled in size to 12 teams.
The Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team has been in existence since 1924, making them the oldest active NHL team. They are also one of the Original Six teams, along with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). They have won six Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926. The Blackhawks are one of the “Original Six” NHL teams along with the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers.
The Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) and are one of the Original Six teams of the league. Founded in 1926, the Wings have won 11 Stanley Cup championships, which is second only to the 24 championships of the Montreal Canadiens.
The team was known as the Detroit Cougars from their founding until 1930. For the 1930–31 and 1931–32 seasons the team was called the Detroit Falcons, and in 1932 changed their name to the Red Wings.
The Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The club’s official name is le Club de hockey Canadien. The team is frequently referred to in English and French as the Habs. French nicknames for the team include Les Canadiens (or Le Canadien), Le Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, La Sainte-Flanelle, Le Tricolore, Les Glorieux (or Nos Glorieux), and Les Habitants (from which “Habitants” is derived).
The Canadiens were founded in 1909 as a charter member of the National Hockey Association (NHA), the predecessor to the NHL. They won 14 Stanley Cups, more than any other team in NHL history.[1][2][3] They played their home games at the Montreal Forum. The team moved from the NHA to the NHL in 1917.[4]
The Canadiens have had success throughout their 109 years of existence; they are one of only five teams to win more than one Stanley Cup championship in their first 25 years.[5] Prior to 1955–56, they had never failed to qualify for a Stanley Cup playoff series. Since 1955–56, however, they have missed only four times: 1971–72 due to league expansion,[6] 1986–87 due to injury and salary disputes,[7] 1989–90 because Patrick Roy refused to play for them after a contract dispute,[8] and 2004–05 because of an NHL lockout that cancelled that season’s playoffs.[9][10] They have also won 26 division championships between 1915 and 2016;[11][12] this is more division titles than any other NHL team has won since divisional play began after World War II—the next most being 19 division championships by Detroit between 1937 and 2016—and it is second only all-time behind Boston with 29 division titles since divisions were introduced in 1933.
The New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are one of the original six teams that made up the National Hockey League. They were founded in 1926 and have been based in New York City since their inception. The Rangers have won four Stanley Cups, most recently in 1994.
The Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the first six teams to join the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1926. The others were the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Maroons, the New York Rangers, the Boston Bruins and the Detroit Cougars (later to become the Detroit Red Wings). The Maple Leafs have won thirteen Stanley Cups, second only to the Canadiens.
The 1967 Expansion
The first NHL expansion happened in 1967 when the league doubled in size from six to twelve teams. Prior to this, the NHL only consisted of teams from Canada. The 1967 expansion saw the addition of six new teams: the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, St. Louis Blues, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Los Angeles Kings
In 1967, the NHL doubled in size from six to twelve teams, with the California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and St. Louis Blues joining theOriginal Six.
The Los Angeles Kings were founded on February 8, 1966 when Jack Kent Cooke was awarded an NHL expansion franchise for Los Angeles on the condition that he build a new arena. The Kings played their home games at The Forum in Inglewood, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Jerry Buss became a part-owner of the team in 1974 and bought the majority of shares from Cooke in 1976.
Under head coach Bob Pulford, the Kings finished last in their division in each of their first five seasons. They made the playoffs for the first time in 1974–75, but were swept by the eventual Stanley Cup champions Philadelphia Flyers in the first round. Buss fired Pulford after a second-round playoff loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1976–77 and hired LarryReaugh as head coach. Reaugh ledthe Kings to two playoff appearances (in 1977–78 and 1978–79), but they were each time swept bythe eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens.
The Minnesota North Stars
The Minnesota North Stars were an expansion team in the 1967 NHL season. The North Stars played their home games in the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The team’s first head coach was Wren Blair, and their general manager was Jack Kent Cooke.
The North Stars were greatly successful in their first year, as they posted a 33-34-7 record and made the playoffs. They were led by two future Hall of Famers: Bill Goldsworthy and Cesare Maniago. Goldsworthy led the team in goals (32) and points (69), while Maniago posted a 2.48 GAA and a .916 save percentage. In the 1967 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the North Stars upset the heavily favored Chicago Blackhawks in six games, before losing to the St. Louis Blues in seven games in the Semifinals.
Despite their success on the ice, the North Stars struggled at the box office, as attendance was only about 6,000 per game. Jack Kent Cooke soon grew tired of running an unsuccessful business venture, and he sold the team to Metropolitan Sports Enterprises in 1968. Under new ownership, the North Stars moved to Dallas in 1993 and became known as the Dallas Stars.
The Philadelphia Flyers
In the 1967 NHL expansion, the Philadelphia Flyers were one of six new teams introduced to the league (the others being the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, and the Buffalo Sabres). The Flyers were originally slated to be an expansion team in the 1965 wave alongside the Kings and Minnesota North Stars, but their entry was delayed due to financial difficulties.
The Flyers were owned by Ed Snider, a businessman who also owned Spectacor, a company that operated arenas and stadiums. Jerry Wolman, another businessman, was originally supposed to own the team but he ran into financial trouble and had to sell his stake to Snider. The team was originally going to be called the “Quakers”, but this was changed to the “Flyers” because of a logo contest that was held. The logo that ended up winning featured a fly holding a hockey stick.
The Flyers made their debut in 1967-68 and finished last in their division with a record of 27-34-13. They would improved slightly over the next few seasons but never made much headway in the standings. In 1971-72, they finished last in their division again but this time with a much worse record of 21-42-17. It wouldn’t be until 1973-74 that they would make their first playoff appearance.
In 1974-75, under new head coach Fred Shero, the Flyers finally turned things around as they won their division with a record of 50-20-10. They would go on to win their first Stanley Cup that year as they defeated the Buffalo Sabres in six games. They would repeat as champions in 1975-76 as they once again defeated the Sabres in six games. The Flyers would make it three straight trips to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1976-77 but this time they would lose to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
The Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins were an NHL expansion team that began play in the 1967-68 season. They were one of six teams added to the league that year, and one of two (the other being the California Seals) expansion teams to come from the state of Pennsylvania. The Penguins played their home games at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, which they shared with the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League.
The Penguins finished their first season with a record of 27-34-13, good for fourth place in their division and out of the playoffs. However, they improved to 35-29-10 in their second season and made the playoffs for the first time in team history. They went on to lose to the St. Louis Blues in the first round.
The following year, led by rookie sensation Mario Lemieux, the Penguins posted a solid 42-27-11 record and made it back to the playoffs. However, they once again lost in the first round, this time to the New York Islanders.
The St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues were one of the six teams added to the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1967 expansion. The Blues played their first game on October 11, 1967, against the Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars) and won 3–1. The team’s first season was a success, as they finished first in their division and made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in four games.
The 1970s Expansion
The National Hockey League (NHL) expanded from six to twelve teams in 1967, with the addition of the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and San Francisco Seals. This was the first major expansion of the NHL since 1942, when the league doubled in size from six to twelve teams. The new teams were added to the existing Eastern and Western Conferences, making each conference six teams.
The Atlanta Flames
The Atlanta Flames were an National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1972 to 1980. The Flames, along with the New York Islanders, joined the NHL in the 1972 expansion.
The Flames were created when former NHL president Clarence Campbell awarded an expansion franchise to incubate the sport of ice hockey in the southeastern United States. The team’s first owners were Tom Cousins, who also owned the Atlanta Hawks basketball team, and Points Incorporated (a group of investors from Vancouver led by Nelson Skalbania).
The Flames played their home games at The Omni Coliseum (now State Farm Arena) in downtown Atlanta. The franchise struggled mightily in its early years, posting a 67-95-16 record in its first four seasons. However, under head coach Bernie Geoffrion, the Flames made the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history (1975–76 and 1976–77). In both of those seasons, they lost to the successful Philadelphia Flyers dynasty in the first round.
The Buffalo Sabres
The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season as part of the league’s expansion effort to keep up with the rival World Hockey Association (WHA). The French Connection was one of the most famous forward lines in history. All three players – Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert and_Rick Martin_– were eventually inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks were an Expansion team that joined the National Hockey League (NHL) in the 1970-71 season. They were one of two Expansion teams to join the NHL that year, along with the Buffalo Sabres. The Canucks replaced the Vancouver Titans, who had ceased operations following the completion of the 1969-70 season.
