National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional sports organization composed of ice hockey teams in the North America. Its French name is Ligue Nationale de Hockey (LNH). It is the premier professional ice hockey league in the world,[1] and one of the North American major professional sports leagues. The league's teams are divided into two conferences, with each conference being further divided into three divisions.
The league was founded in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec with five teams, and through a series of expansions, reductions and relocations is now composed of 30 teams, 24 of which are based in the United States and 6 in Canada. After a labour dispute that led to the cancellation of the complete 2004-05 season, the league has staged a successful 2005-06 regular season and 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Historically, due to its origin in Canada, a large majority of players in the National Hockey League were Canadians. Over the past 25 years, due to the NHL's expansion to the United States, its higher standard of play compared to other leagues, and the availibility of highly skilled European players from Eastern Europe after the fall of communism, there has been an increasing presence of American and European players. Still, over half of the league's players on the 2005-06 roster were born in Canada.
History
The National Hockey League was founded in 1917 in Montreal, Quebec, after a series of disputes in the Canadian National Hockey Association (NHA) between the owner of the Toronto Blueshirts, Edward J. Livingstone, and the owners of other teams.[2] The owners met at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal to talk about the NHA's future and discussions eventually led to the creation of the National Hockey League. The founding teams were the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs and the newly-renamed Toronto Arenas.[2]
Even though the league struggled to stay in business during its first decade, the NHL's teams happened to be very successful on the ice; during the NHL's first nine years, the NHL's teams won the Stanley Cup seven times. By 1926 the NHL, due to the increase in player salaries which could not be matched by any of the Canadian hockey leagues, was the only league competing for the Stanley Cup.[2] The league then started a process of expansion; the Hamilton Tigers were added in the 1920-21 season; the Boston Bruins and Montreal Maroons entered the league in 1924-25; the New York Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates entered in 1925-26 season; and the New York Rangers, Detroit Cougars (now known as the Red Wings), and the Chicago Blackhawks entered in 1926-27 season. By the end of the 1930-31 season, the NHL had a total of 10 teams. The Great Depression and the onset of World War II, however, took a toll on the league and the NHL was reduced to six teams during its twenty-fifth season. These six teams (Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Boston Bruins, and New York Rangers) are collectively known today as the Original Six, and for the next quarter-century, the NHL would consist of these six squads.[2]
The rise of the Western Hockey League, which many pundits thought would transform into a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL in 1967 to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. Six new teams were added to the NHL roster, and placed in their own newly-created division. These six teams included the Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, and Pittsburgh Penguins. Three years later, the NHL added the Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres as franchises.[2]
In 1972, the World Hockey Association (WHA) was formed and though it never challenged for the Stanley Cup, its status as a potential rival to the NHL rival did not go unnoticed. In response, the NHL decided to rush its own expansion plans by adding the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames in the same year, which was followed by the addition of the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals two years later. The two leagues fought for hockey players and fans until the WHA folded in 1979. Four of the remaining six WHA teams merged into the NHL: the Hartford Whalers (formerly known as the New England Whalers), Québec Nordiques, Edmonton Oilers, and Winnipeg Jets.[2]
In the early 90s, the NHL further expanded with five new franchises. The San Jose Sharks debuted in 1991; a season later the Ottawa Senators would join the NHL along with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 1993, the league added two additional teams, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Florida Panthers. Approaching the new millennium, the NHL added another four teams: the Nashville Predators (1998), the Atlanta Thrashers (1999), the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets (both added in 2000), bringing the total to 30 teams.
Game
National Hockey League games are played on a hockey rink. During normal play, there are six players per side on the ice at any time, each of whom is on ice skates; there are five players and one goaltender per side. The objective of the game is to score goals by shooting a hard vulcanized rubber disc, called the puck, into the opponent's goal net, which is placed at the opposite end of the rink. The players may control the puck using a long stick with a blade that is commonly curved at one end.
The goaltender tries to stop the puck from entering their net. The five other players are typically divided into three forwards and two defencemen. Composing the forward positions are the left winger, the centre and the right winger. Forwards often play together as units or lines, with the same three forwards always playing together. The defencemen usually stay together as a pair, but may change less frequently than the forwards. A substitution of an entire unit at once is called a line change. Substitutions are permitted at any time during the course of the game.
Each National Hockey League regulation game between two teams is 60 minutes long, composed of three 20-minute periods. Between each period there is a 15-minute intermission. At the end of the 60 minute regulation time, the team with the most goals is considered the winner. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, 4-player on 4-player sudden-death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game. Beginning in 2005-06, if the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout.[3] Three players for each team in turn perform a penalty shot. The team with the most goals during this shootout wins the game.[3] If the game is still tied after the three shootout rounds, the shootout continues, but becomes sudden death. Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a "goal" in the final score, though none of the goals or saves register in the main statistics since shootout stats are tracked separately.[3]
During the playoffs, the overtime format is changed, with the shootout removed. Instead there are an unlimited number of sudden-death, 20 minute, five-on-five periods until one team scores.[3] While a game can theoretically continue forever, practically, only a handful of games have ever surpassed four overtime periods, and none have gone beyond six.[4]
Teams
The National Hockey League originated in 1917 with 5 teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions and relocations currently consists of 30 teams, 24 of which are based in the United States and 6 in Canada. The current league organization divides the teams into two conferences. Each conference has three divisions, and each division has 5 teams.[5] The current organization has roots in the 1998-98 season where a league realignment added two divisions to bring the total number of divisions to six; the current team alignment began with the 2000-2001 season when the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the league as expansion teams.
- Eastern Conference
- Western Conference
Season structure
The National Hockey League season is divided into a regular season, where teams play each other in a predefined schedule, and a playoffs, which is a elimination tournament where two teams play against eachother to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Stanley Cup champions. The currently ongoing season is the 2005-06 regular season and the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
In the regular season, each team plays 82 games; 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Of the 82 games, teams play 32 games within their division, 40 games against non-divisional, conference opponents and 10 interconference games, 1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference.[6] The two divisions from the opposite conference which each team plays against are rotated every year, much like interleague play in baseball. Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation.[7] Among major professional sports leagues, the NHL is the only one to award a team for losing in overtime.
At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion with the league overall leader awarded the Presidents' Trophy. The three division champions along with the five other teams in each conference with the next highest number of points, for a total of 8 teams in each conference, qualify for the playoffs. The division winners are seeded one through three (even if a non-division winner has a higher point total), and the next five teams with the best records in the conference are seeded four through eight.[5] The Stanley Cup Playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The first round of the playoffs, or conference quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth.[5] In the second round, or conference semifinals, the NHL re-seeds the teams, with the top remaining conference seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the third round, the conference finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.
In each round the higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue - the first and second, and, when necessary, the fifth and seventh, with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue.
Players
The best known NHL players have historically included Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux. The top five forwards in the 2005-06 season include Joe Thornton, Jaromir Jagr, Alexander Ovechkin, Daniel Alfredsson, and Dany Heatley.[8] The top three scoring defencemen include Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Zubov, and Bryan McCabe,[9] and the top three goaltenders include Martin Brodeur, Miikka Kiprusoff, and Marty Turco.[10] The rookie race between Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby also garnered much attention during the 2005-06 season.[11]
In addition to Canadian and American players, which have historically composed a large marjority of NHL players, the NHL draws players from all over the world. Since the 1990s when communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the newly formed nations did not restrict the movements of players there has been a large increase in amount of European players in the NHL.[12]. In an effort to bring in more skilled offensive players, European players were drafted and signed by NHL teams.[13] The addition of European players has changed the style of play in the NHL; European style hockey has been accepted in the NHL if not embraced.[12] The league also voluntarily stops its season so that its players can play in the Winter Olympics to have the players represent their own country. Currently the NHL has players from 18 different countries, with the majority still coming from Canada.[14]
| 2005-2006 Season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent | Country | Number of Players [14] | ||
| 53.7 | 
|
Canada | 516 | |
| 18.5 | 
|
USA | 178 | |
| 6.8 | 
|
Czech Republic | 65 | |
| 5.3 | 
|
Russia | 51 | |
| 4.8 | 
|
Sweden | 46 | |
| 4.1 | 
|
Finland | 39 | |
| 3.3 | 
|
Slovakia | 32 | |
| 0.8 | 
|
Germany | 8 | |
| 0.4 | 
|
Switzerland | 4 | |
| 0.3 | 
|
Austria | 3 | |
| 0.3 | 
|
Belarus | 3 | |
| 0.3 | 
|
Latvia | 3 | |
| 0.2 | 
|
Kazakhstan | 2 | |
| 0.2 | 
|
Poland | 2 | |
Hockey rink
National Hockey League games are played on a hockey rink which is rectangular ice rink with rounded corners and surrounded by a wall. It measures 25.91 by 60.92 metres (85 by 200 feet) in the NHL,[15] while international standards call for a rink measuring 60-61 meters long by 29-30 meters wide (196.85-200.13 feet by 95.14-98.43 feet). The center line divides the ice in half lengthwise,[16] and is used to judge icing violations. There are two blue lines that divide the rink roughly into thirds, which divide the ice into two attacking and one neutral zone.[16] Near each end of the rink, there is a thin red goal line spanning the width of the ice, which is is used to judge goals and icing calls.
From the 2005-2006 season, after testing in the American Hockey League, a trapezoid area behind each goal net has been introduced. The goaltender can only play the puck within that area or in front of the goal line;[17] if the goaltender plays the puck behind the goal line and not in the trapezoid, a 2 minute minor penalty for delay of game is assessed by the referees.
Rules
- Main articles: National Hockey League rules
While the National Hockey League follows the general rules of Ice hockey, it differs slightly from those used in international games organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation such as the Olympics. Infractions of the rules can lead to either the stoppage of play, for offside and icing calls, or a penalty call for more serious infractions.
In ice hockey, play is said to be off-side if a player on the attacking team enters the attacking zone before the puck.[18] When an offside violation occurs, the linesman blows the play dead, and a faceoff is conducted in the neutral zone.[18] During the '04-'05 lockout, the league removed the offside pass or two-line pass rule, which required a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player. The removal of the two-line offside was one of several rule changes intended to increase overall scoring,[19] which had been in decline since the early 1990's.
Icing occurs when a player shoots the puck across both the center line and the opposing team's goal line without the puck going into the net.[20] When icing occurs, a linesman stops play if a defending player (other than the goaltender) touches the puck before an attacking player is able to. Play is resumed with a faceoff in the defending zone of the team that committed the infraction. Icing can be waved off if the goaltender makes a move from his net to play the puck or if in the officials' opinion, the defending team had a viable opportunity to play the puck before crossing the goal line.[20] Icing is also not enforced for a team that is short-handed.[20] Under the rules following the 2004-2005 lockout if a team is guilty of icing the puck they are not allowed to make a line change before the following faceoff.
A penalty is a punishment for more serious infractions of the rules. A referee makes all penalty calls while the linesmen may call only obvious technical and major intent-to-injure penalties that the referee may have missed. During a penalty, the player who committed the infraction is sent to the penalty box. Small infractions are deemed minor penalties, and the player is kept off the ice for two minutes of gameplay.[21] More dangerous infractions, such as fighting, are deemed major penalties and have a duration of five minutes.[22] The penalized team cannot replace the player on the ice and is thus shorthanded for the duration of the penalty.[21] Normally, hockey teams have five skaters on the ice (excluding the goaltender), so if a minor or major penalty is called, play becomes five-on-four. This situation is called a power play for the non-offending team and a penalty kill for the offending team. A team is far more likely to score on a power play than during normal play. If the penalized team is scored on during a minor penalty, the penalty immediately terminates.[21] Unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play.
Trophies and awards
The National Hockey League presents numerous trophies per year. The most prestigious team award is the Stanley Cup, which is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team that has the most points in the regular season is awarded the Presidents' Trophy; during the 2005-2006 the Detroit Red Wings were awarded the Presidents' Trophy. There are also numerous trophies that are awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; they include, among others, the Art Ross Trophy for the leauge scoring chamption (goals and assists), the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the goal-scoring leader, and the William M. Jennings Trophy for the goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against them.[23] For the 2005-2006 season these statistics-based trophies were awarded to Joe Thornton, Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks and Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames respectively.[23]
The other player trophies are voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers Association or the team general managers.[23] The most prestigious individual award is the Hart Memorial Trophy which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player; the voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to judge the player who is the most valuable to his team during the regular season. The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the person deemed the best goalkeeper as voted on by the general managers of the teams in the NHL. The James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top defenceman, and the Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the top rookie; both of these awards are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.
In addition to the regular season awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league is a Jack Adams Award as selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association. The National Hockey League releases the top three vote getters for all awards, and then names the award winner during the NHL Awards Ceremony.[23] For the 2005-06 season these award winners will be named on June 22, 2006 in Vancouver. [23]
Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. For players there is a waiting time of three years after their last professional game,[24] but in the past, if a player was deemed significant enough, the pending period would be waived. However, only 10 individuals have been honoured in this manner.[25] In 1999, Wayne Gretzky became the last player to have the three-year restriction waived.[25] After Gretzky's induction, the NHL declared that he would be the last one to have the waiting period omitted.
Labour issues
There have been three league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all happening between 1992 and 2005. The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days, but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled.[26] A lockout at the start of the 1994-95 forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season.[26] The resulting collective bargaining agreement was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15, 2004.[27]
With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15, 2004, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office.[27] The lockout shut down the league for 310 days, the longest in sports history; the NHL was the first professional sports league to lose an entire season.[27] The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the National Hockey League Players Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union initially said it would not accept. A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005-06 season.[27]
On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout NHL season took to the ice with 15 games. Of those 15 games, 11 were in front of sell out crowds.[28] The NHL received record attendance in the 2005-06 season. 20,854,169 fans, an average of 16,955 per game, was a 1.2% increase over the previous mark held in the 2001-02 season.[11] Also, the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche sold out all of their home games and all six Canadian teams played to 98% capacity or better at all home games.[11] Twenty-four of the 30 clubs finished even or ahead of their 2003-04 mark. The Pittsburgh Penguins had the highest increase at 33%, probably because of Canadian phenom Sidney Crosby. [11]
See also
References
- McFarlane, Brian (1997). Brian McFarlane's History of Hockey. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing Inc. ISBN 1571671455.
- National Hockey League (2005). "2005-06 NHL Offcial Rules". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-10.
Notes
- ^ Marsh, James (2006). "National Hockey League". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
- ^ a b c d e f McFarlane, Brian (1997). Brian McFarlane's History of Hockey. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing Inc. ISBN 1571671455.
- ^ a b c d Fitzpatrick, Jamie (2006). "How the NHL Shootout Works". About.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ Information Please Database (2006). "Five Longest Playoff Overtime Games". Pearson Education. Retrieved 2006-06-10.
- ^ a b c NHL.com (2005). "Playoff formats". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
- ^ CBC Sports Online (2005-07-27). "NHL ramps up rivalries". CBC.com. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
- ^ Sillinger, Shawn (2006-05-14). "NHL standings: A simple solution". betus.com. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
- ^ TSN.ca (2006-04-21). "Statistics (Forwards)". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ TSN.ca (2006-04-21). "Statistics (Defencemen". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ TSN.ca (2006-04-21). "Statistics (Goalies)". TSN.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ a b c d Molinaro, John (2006-04-20). "A season to remember". CBC.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ a b Wigge, Larry (2002-02-25). "New world order: as the Olympics have shown, the influx of players from across the Atlantic has brought a sea change to the NHL game". The Sporting News. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
- ^ Beacon, Bill (199-06-27). "Canadians left behind as NHL goes for firepower". Canadian Press. Retrieved 2006-06-11.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b IWHC.net (2006-05-16). "NHL still likes Czechs best". IWHC.net. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ National Hockey League (2005). "Dimensions of Rink". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ a b National Hockey League (2005). "Division of ice surface". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ National Hockey League (2005). "Goal crease". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ a b National Hockey League (2005). "Off-side". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ CBC sports (2005-07-22). "Relaunching the Game". CBC.com. Retrieved 2006-06-10.
- ^ a b c National Hockey League (2005). "Icing the puck". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ a b c National Hockey League (2005). "Minor penalties". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ National Hockey League (2005). "Major penalties". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
- ^ a b c d e "NHL Announces 2005-06 Trophy finalists". NHL.com. 2006-05-04. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ Canadian Press (2005-11-7). "Roy on deck for 2006, 'mayhem' in 2007". tsn.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-08.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b pheonixcoyotes.com (2006-05-31). "Wayne Gretzky signs five-year contract as head coach". pheonixcoyotes.com. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ a b CBC Sports (2004-01-29). "We've been here before". cbc.ca. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
- ^ a b c d Staudohar, Paul D. (December 2005). "The hockey lockout of 2004–05" (PDF). Monthly Labor Review.
- ^ NHL.com (2005-10-06). "NHL returns with packed arenas, single-date attendance record". NHL.com. Retrieved 2006-06-09.
