The league expanded to the United States in 1924, when the Boston Bruins joined, and has since consisted of both American and Canadian teams. The NHL immediately took the NHA's place as one of the leagues that contested for the Stanley Cup in an annual interleague competition before a series of league mergers and foldings left the NHL as the only league left competing for the Stanley Cup in 1926.Īt its inception, the NHL had four teams, all in Canada, thus the adjective 'National' in the league's name. The National Hockey League was organized at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal on November 26, 1917, after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909 in Renfrew, Ontario. The NHL is the fifth-wealthiest professional sport league in the world by revenue, after the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the English Premier League (EPL). The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) also views the Stanley Cup as one of the 'most important championships available to the sport'. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered to be the top ranked professional ice hockey league in the world, with players from 18 countries as of the 2022–23 season.

The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The National Hockey League ( NHL French: Ligue nationale de hockey-LNH, French pronunciation: ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams-25 in the United States and 7 in Canada.

Nhl 17 with current roster schedule