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NHL Founded
Nov. 26, 1917: The NHL was founded. Teams included the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Arenas, and Quebec Bulldogs. Quebec (pictured) did not play during the 1917-18 season. -
1st NHL Exhibition Game
Dec. 15, 1917: The NHL's 1st game was played four days before the start of the regular season when the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers played a benefit game for victims of the Halifax Explosion, which had occurred 10 days earlier. The 1916 Canadiens (pictured) won the franchise's first Stanley Cup Championship. -
NHL Expands
The NHL grew to six teams in 1924, adding a second team in Montreal, the Maroons,[45] and the first American team, the Boston Bruins.[46] The Bruins were purchased by Charles Adams, a grocery store financier who first developed an interest in hockey during the Stanley Cup playoffs, paying $15,000 for the team.[46] The Maroons were created to replace the Wanderers and to appeal to the English population of Montreal.[45] The first NHL game played in the United States was a 2–1 Bruins victory over -
1st Stanley Cup Champions
Since 1927, the league's playoff format, deciding which teams advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, has changed multiple times. In some systems that were previously used, playoff teams were seeded regardless of division or conference. Since 1982, the Finals have been played between the league's conference playoff champions. -
2013 Stanley Cup Champs
The 2012–13 Chicago Blackhawks season is the 87th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on September 25, 1926.[2] The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to a lockout. The Hawks captured the Western Conference championship, and went on to defeat the Eastern Conference playoff champion Boston Bruins in six games to capture their fifth Stanley Cup in team history. The Blackhawks also became just the eighth team to win both the Cup and the Pre
