History of NHL The National Hockey League was founded in 1917. It started in Montreal and Quebec in Canada. There are thirty teams from the United States and Canada. Although the teams are based in Canada and the United States, the players come from around twenty different countries around the world. In the first decade of the NHL it competed with several leagues for the Stanley Cup. The NHL had almost no rivals in winning the Stanley Cup. Only once did a non-NHL team win the Stanley Cup in 1925. The following year (1926) the NHL was the the only league to compete for the Stanley Cup. Subsequently the NHL began to expand. They added the Boston Bruins. The Bruins were the first NHL team based in the United States. Six more teams subsequently entered. They were the Maroons, the New York Americans, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the New York Rangers, the Chicago Black Hawks and the Detroit Cougars. There were now ten teams in the NHL. Then came the Great Depression. The Great Depression had a huge effect on the NHL. After the Depression (1942) there were only six teams left in the league. These six teams are known as the Original Six. They consist of the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, Boston Bruins and New York Rangers. The Original Six were the only six teams in the NHL for the next five years. On January 18, 1958, a huge milestone occurred in the NHL. The first black player joined the NHL. His name was Willie O'Ree. He joined the Boston Bruins. He was a left winger and played for six years. He played 45 matches and scored a total of six goals. The Western Hockey League was a major factor in the NHL. They were thinking about competing for the Stanley Cup. This made the NHL react quickly. The NHL decided... mid-card... a shootout (minimum three rounds). There are no shootouts in the playoffs. Instead, a twenty-minute five-on-five period is played. The first goal wins. If the game is tied after the first overtime period, a second overtime period continues. It will continue until a goal is scored. In the NHL there are eight teams from each conference that make the playoffs. The three division winners automatically occupy the top three spots in the division. The other five are for the teams with the most points. You earn two points for every win and one point for every overtime loss. When the playoffs begin, the top seed in the conference will play the lowest seed. Then the second seed will play the seventh seed. The two winners of each conference will face each other in the Stanley Cup game. A best-of-seven series and whoever wins four of the seven games wins the Stanley Cup.