15 Facts About The NHL

1. The NHL has grown a lot since its inception in 1917.

2. The NHL is in their regular summer lay-off, and not a lot happens in the doldrums of summer.

3. The NHL became the strongest league in North America and in 1926 took permanent possession of the Stanley Cup, a trophy representing world supremacy in ice hockey.

4. Wayne Gretzky holds 61 The NHL records, the most by far of any player.

5. The NHL became first involved in international play in the mid-1970s, starting with the Summit Series in 1972 which pitted the top Canadian players of the NHL against the top players in the Soviet Union.

6. The NHL continued to expand, adding the Maroons and its first American team, the Boston Bruins in 1924, getting up to 10 teams by 1926.

7. The NHL adopted the NHA's constitution, its rules, playing with six men to a side rather than the then-traditional seven and the NHA's split-season schedule.

8. The NHL continued to expand, adding another six teams, to total 18 by 1974.

9. The NHL estimates that half of its fan base roots for teams in outside markets.

10. The NHL operates two subscription-based services allowing access to live, out-of-market games.

11. The NHL divides the 31 teams into two conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference.

12. The NHL consists of 31 teams, 24 of which are based in the United States and seven in Canada.

13. The NHL replaced the NHA as one of the leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, which was an interleague competition back then.

14. The NHL draws many highly skilled players from all over the world and currently has players from approximately 20 countries.

15. The NHL added six new teams to double its size at the 1967 NHL expansion.