National Hockey League

The National Hockey League (NHL) is a professional hockey leauge with teams across Canada and the United States. Comprised of 30 teams, divided into two Conferences (Eastern and Western) and four Divisions each (Atlantic and Metropolitan in the East and Central and Pacific in the West), the NHL teams play for their top championship, the Stanley Cup. The teams play 82 game seasons, and the top 16 teams (three top teams from each division plus two wild-card teams from each conference) from the regular season advance to a playoff phase where a best of seven series are played between the seeded teams.

Canadian and American players make up the majority of the players in the NHL, however many skilled players have been brought into the league from Europe, making it a premier place for playing hockey. The large number of Canadian players and the large support for the sport of hockey make the NHL a popular draw in Canada, with playoff hockey actually drawing more viewers in Canada than in the United States.

List of Teams

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

• Boston Bruins
• Buffalo Sabres
• Detroit Red Wings
• Florida Panthers
• Montreal Canadiens
• Ottawa Senators
• Tampa Bay Lightning
• Toronto Maple Leafs

Metropolitan Division

• Carolina Hurricanes
• Columbus Blue Jackets
• New Jersey Devils
• New York Islanders
• New York Rangers
• Philadelphia Flyers
• Pittsburgh Penguins
• Washington Capitals

Western Conference

Central Division

• Chicago Blackhawks
• Colorado Avalanche
• Dallas Stars
• Minnesota Wild
• Nashville Predators
• St. Louis Blues
• Winnipeg Jets

Pacific Division

• Anaheim Ducks
• Arizona Coyotes
• Calgary Flames
• Edmonton Oilers
• Los Angeles Kings
• San Jose Sharks
• Vancouver Canucks