What Are The 7 Canadian NHL Teams?

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league consisting of 30 teams, of which 7 are located in Canada. The Canadian teams are the Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, and Vancouver Canucks.

The 7 Canadian NHL Teams

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional ice hockey league composed of 30 member clubs: 23 in the United States and 7 in Canada. Canadian teams make up half of the league and are some of the most passionate and supported teams across the country. From the Maple Leafs in Toronto to the Oilers in Edmonton, these are the 7 Canadian NHL teams.

The Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens (French: Les Canadiens de Montréal) are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec. 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. An English-language nickname for the team is the Flying Frenchmen (Les Canadiens volants).[1][2]

Founded in 1909, the Canadiens are the longest continuously operating professional ice hockey team worldwide, and the only existing NHL team to predate the founding of the NHL.[3][4] One of the oldest North American professional sports franchises, the Canadiens’ history predates that of every other Canadian franchise outside football as well as every American franchise outside baseball and basketball.[5] The franchise is one of two NHL teams to have never won any version of the Stanley Cup,[a] with their most recent appearance in a Stanley Cup Final coming in 1993. They have won an NHL record 24 Stanley Cups,[b][9] more than any other franchise currently playing in another major professional sport league.[c]

The needs of audiences for live sports broadcasts has changed over time. In particular, there is now an increased demand for regionalized broadcasts of games involving Canadian teams. These needs generally take two forms:

1) The desire by viewers in a given region to see games involving their “local” teams; and
2) The desire by national advertisers to target specific regions with their advertising campaigns.

In order to satisfy both these objectives, TSN produce seperate feeds of some of their programming for distribution in different regions across Canada. TSN’s primary english-language feed originating from Toronto is intended for a national audience and includes coverage of all seven Canadian NHL teams as well as selected games from other markets around North America. This leaves TSN’s regional feeds free to focus largely on programming featuring a particular local or regional teams without having to also carry programming intended for a national audience.

The Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Maple Leafs were founded in 1917, and they have won 13 Stanley Cup championships, which is more than any other Canadian NHL team.

The Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place, which has a capacity of over 18,000. The Canucks joined the NHL in 1970 as an expansion team along with the Buffalo Sabres and prior to that, played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) where they won one league championship.

The Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The club is owned by Canadian natural gas company, Nolan Ryan, and managed by general manager Darryl Sutter. The Flames originally played in Atlanta, Georgia as the Atlanta Flames from 1972–1980. In 1980, the team moved to Calgary.

The Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers were founded on November 1, 1971, with the team playing its first season in 1972, as one of the twelve founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). They were originally intended to be one of two WHA teams in Alberta, along with the Calgary Broncos. However, when the Broncos relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, before the WHA’s first season began, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers. They returned to using the Edmonton Oilers name for the following year, then spent six years as a World Hockey Association affiliated farm team for two different NHL franchises; they spent time with both Philadelphia Blazers (1972–74) and New England Whalers (1975–77) organizations.

The Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Senators play their home games at the 18,653-seat Canadian Tire Centre which opened in 1996.

The Winnipeg Jets

The Winnipeg Jets are a professional ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team is owned by True North Sports & Entertainment and plays its home games at Bell MTS Place.

The Jets began play as the Atlanta Thrashers in 1999. True North Sports & Entertainment purchased the team in May 2011 and relocated it to Winnipeg prior to the 2011–12 season. The franchise had failed to make the playoffs since 2007, which was also the last season in which they won a playoff series; they missed the playoffs every year they were in Atlanta.