The NHL’s first season was 1917-18. There were only five teams: Ottawa Senators, Toronto Arenas, Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadians, and Montreal Wanderers. In the early years of the NHL the champion would play the champion of another league for The Stanley Cup. Starting in 1926 however only the NHL competed for the highly coveted cup.
The first year of the NHL was brutal. Only 700 people came to see the opening game despite the fact that soldiers were admited for free. The Bulldogs lost too many players to the army and couldn’t finish the season. On Jan. 2, 1918 a fire destroyed the Montreal arena and almost brought the end of the NHL. The owner of the Wanderers used this as an excuse to get his team out of the NHL, so the first season was played with three teams.
The early setup was one with 2 sections. The winner of each section would play of for NHL champion. However, the Arenas quit late in the season so the Senators and the Canadians played off in a 7 game series won by the Canadians.
After the World War I, intrest in hockey grew and the Bulldogs rejoined in 1919. However in 1920-21 they again incounterred finacial problems and were forced to move to Hamilton and renamed the tigers.
By 1924 with the added Montreal Maroons and Boston Bruins the NHL was up to
6 teams.
After the depresing 20's the NHL adopted set rules and more teams such as the
Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, New York Islanders, Edmonton Oilers,
Calgary Flames, and Detroit Red Wings.
The NHL flourished and now has 30 teams and many different Stanley Cup winners. Unfortunately, the players for some reason decided they didn’t get enough money (although the average salery is over $1 million) and now there is a stupid lock-out. Can you believe that! Now how will hockey fans like me watch hockey. I just hope they’re going to play again next season and the NHL doesn’t die out after all the years it has survived.
Wayne Gretzky was born on Jan 26, 1961. He began skating at age 2 1/2 and was taught hockey by his father. By age 6 he was a star on a team for 10 & 11 year olds.
The 1978-79 was Wayne Gretzky’s first of 20 profesional seasons. He played for the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Hockey League and when this league joined with the NHL so did Gretzky.
Through-out his career he had 894 goals, and 1963 assists making up 2857 total points. Gretzky also appeared in the All-Star game every year of his 1487 game career. He was mvp 9 times and had the most points in the league 10 times. Gretzky holds the record for most goals (92), assists (163), and points (215) in the regular season. These are just some of his many scoring records.
In 1998-99 Wayne Gretzky retired from the NHL and proffesional hockey. On November 22, 1999 He was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Gordie Howe was born on March 31, 1928 in Floral, Saskatchewan. He would play every day for hours on a lake near his home. On weekends his mother would serve lunch outside so he and his friends never had to take their skates off.
His NHL debut was in the 1946-47 season with the Detroit Red Wings. He scored only 22 points in his rookie season, not something you would expect from a future star. The next season he doubled this with 44 points.
Through-out his career “Mr. Hockey” was league MVP 6 times, won the scoring title 6 times, and was voted into the All-Star game a record 23 times. Gordie had 801 goals and 1049 assists for a grand total of 1850 points in his 26 year career. He also finished with 1685 penalty minutes in his career.
Amazingly, Gordie Howe played proffesional hockey in 6 different decades. He retired from the NHL in 1971, although he played in different leagues until 1980, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972.
Patrick Roy was born on October 5, 1965, in Quebec City, Canada. As a kid
he loved to be active and planed to be a lawyer when he was an adult.
He was drafted into the NHL in 1984. He was the Canadians 3rd pick 51st overall.
He started playing in the 1985-86 season for the Canadians.
Patrick Roy Has the most regular season wins of any goaltender along with the most play-off wins. He has four stanley cups ( two with the Colorado Avalanche and two with the Montreal Canadians). He was voted league MVP in his rookie season, becoming the youngest player ever to win the award ( he was 20). Roy is also the only player to have won this award three times. He has also been awarded the Vezina trophy for best goaltender three times and the William Jennings trophy four times. He has participated in 10 All-Star games.
Patrick Roy has preformed wonderfully in the playoffs with the most minutes,
games, and shutouts of any goalie. He also has the most playoff years with
ten or more playoff wins (8) out of any goaltender.
He retired after the 2002-03 season ending a 17 year career in the NHL.