Ian JohnThe National Hockey League (NHL) is something of a misnomer as it is a professional ice hockey league, rather than field hockey competition.
Commissioner Gary Bettman is in charge of the league which features seven teams from Canada plus 25 from across the United States each season.
Although not as popular in the UK as in North America, Eastern Europe, Russia and some parts of Asia, Ice Hockey is an intriguing game and is, as far as I am aware, the only contact sport played on ice.
It is also a hugely popular Olympic Sport, especially when you consider that many of the stars of the NHL will move away from their clubs to compete for the countries when the Winter Olympics comes around.
The NHL has also played a key part in a number of films and TV series over the years including classics such as Slap Shot and The Mighty Ducks, as well as featuring in other films and shows such as Wayne’s World, Hockey Night, Sudden Death, Goon, Goon the Last of the Enforcers, H-E Double Hockey Sticks, The Last Gladiators, In The Crease, Miracle, Bon Cop, Bad Cup, Hockey Wives and The Rocket.
So what do we need to know about the sport to enjoy a bet or two on it, and how did the NHL come into being? Let’s take a look and find out.
What Is The History Of The NHL?
The NHL was founded in 1917 and took over the position of the National Hockey Association, which was formed in 1909 in Canada and featured just seven teams from Ontario and Quebec.
That organisation lasted just eight years before divisions within the league surfaced, leading to a number of teams suspending the NHA and setting up the alternative NHL.
The NHL then usurped the NHA as being one of the teams, along with the Pacific Coast Hockey Association that competed for the season-ending Stanley Cup.
However it wasn’t until the 1920s that the NHL really took off with the first United States team, the Boston Bruins joining the organisation. Soon other teams from cities in New York, Pittsburgh, Chicago and Detroit were also added to the league.
The league somewhat stagnated over the next 30 years or so due to World War and the Great Depression amongst other things, but in the 1960s, the league was ripe for expansion, doubling in size to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season. More teams followed suit in the 1970s and over the 90s, 2000s and even up to 2018, the league continued to expand to 32 teams.
Over that time, the Stanley Cup became the defacto NHL Championship series, with the teams winning each of the Eastern and Western Conferences clashing in the showpiece finale to the season.
How Is The NHL Regular & Post Season Organised?
The organisation of the NHL has moved from a single league comprising of six teams, to a more complicated set up involving two conferences, Eastern and Western, which each comprises of two divisions:
Eastern Conference
- Atlantic
- Metropolitan
Western Conference
- Central
- Pacific
Each of the four sub-divisions in the two conferences comprises of eight teams each and while the allocation of teams to each conference and division is broadly geographic, there is still a large distance between some of the opposing teams in each conference.
Who Competes In The NHL?
There are 32 teams in the NHL who are divided into the two conferences and four divisions as such:
Eastern Conference – Atlantic
- Boston Bruins (Boston, Mass)
- Buffalo Sabres (Buffalo, NY)
- Detroit Red Wings (Detroit, Mich)
- Florida Panthers (Sunrise, FL)
- Montreal Canadiens (Montreal, QUE)
- Ottawa Senators (Ottawa, ONT)
- Tampa Bay Lightning (Tampa, FL)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (Toronto, ONT)
Eastern Conference – Metropolitan
- Carolina Hurricanes (Raleigh, NC)
- Columbus Blue Jackets (Columbus, OH)
- New Jersey Devils (Newark, NJ)
- New York Islanders (Elmont, NY)
- New York Rangers (New York City, NY)
- Philadelphia Flyers (Philadelphia, PN)
- Pittsburgh Penguins (Pittsburgh, PN)
- Washington Capitals (Washington DC)
Western Conference – Central
- Arizona Coyotes (Tempe, AZ)
- Chicago Blackhawks (Chicago, IL)
- Colorado Avalanche (Denver, CO)
- Dallas Stars (Dallas, TX)
- Minnesota Wild (Saint Paul, MN)
- Nashville Predators (Nashville, TN)
- St. Louis Blues (St Louis, MS)
- Winnipeg Jets (Winnipeg, MAN)
Western Conference – Pacific
- Anaheim Ducks (Anaheim, CA)
- Calgary Flames (Calgary, ALB)
- Edmonton Oilers (Edmonton, ALB)
- Los Angeles Kings (Los Angeles, CA)
- San Jose Sharks (San Jose, CA)
- Seattle Kraken (Seattle, WA)
- Vancouver Canucks (Vancouver, BC)
- Vegas Golden Nights (Paradise, NV)
The teams play through their campaign as follows:
- Pre-Season – September through to early October.
Pre-season is when teams play a number of training games and work on final tactics and team selections and trades ahead of the start of the regular season.
- Regular Season – Early October through to mid-April
The regular season comprises of 82 games in total for each of the 32 teams. 41 at home, 41 on the road. Those games are against:
- 26 games within their own geographic division (Metropolitan, Pacific, Central & Atlantic). They play their five of their divisional opponents four times, and the other two teams in their division they play three times per season.
- 24 games against the other eight teams in the other conference within their Geographic division.
- The final 32 games are against all 16 teams from the other conference, who they play once at home and once on the road.
At the end of the regular season, the team atop the standings is the Division Champion and the overall leader of all four divisions in both conferences receives the President’s Trophy.
The top three teams in each of the four divisions qualify for the playoffs, plus each conference also gives its final two playoff places to the remaining two teams with the best records regardless of which division they play in.
The teams are seeded ahead of the post season based on their records over the regular season.
- Post Season (The Stanley Cup Playoffs) – Mid-April to early June
The Playoffs are played as a best-of-seven series throughout the tournament with the team to win four games qualifying for the next phase.
There are four quarter finals, followed by two semi finals and lastly, the Stanley Cup Final to decide the National Champions of the NHL.
How Do NHL Teams Make Changes To Their Teams/Squads/Staff?
The most celebrated way teams add players to their squad is via the NHL Draft, which takes place in June each year over seven rounds.
Teams can also release players from their contracts or trade them to free up spaces in their squad or to receive players or other considerations (Draft Picks, cash).
Finally, at the end of the season, veteran players may decide to retire, freeing up spaces in their former team’s squad.
What Are The Most Popular NHL Betting Markets?
Checking out the NHL betting markets at Bet365 Sport reveals that some of the most popular forms of betting on the NHL are as follows:
- Outright winner bets on the Stanley Cup
- Outright winner bets on the Conference Champions and Divisional Champions.
- Full Time Result Bets on individual games.
- Vezina Trophy Winner (NHL GK MVP)
- First, Last and Anytime Goalscorer Betting
- Both Teams to Score Betting
- Point Spread Betting
- Total Goals Over/Under Bettin
Who Are The NHL’s Most Successful Teams?
The most successful teams in the NHL are those that have won the Stanley Cup most times and the list of winners is as follows, (with losses in the Stanley Cup Final shown in brackets):
- Montreal Canadiens – 24 wins (10 losses)
- Toronto Maple Leafs – 13 wins (8 losses)
- Detroit Red Wings – 11 wins (13 losses)
- Boston Bruins – 6 wins (14 losses)
- Chicago Blackhawks – 6 wins (7 losses)
- Edmonton Oilers – 5 wins (2 losses)
- Pittsburgh Penguins – 5 wins (1 loss)
- New York Rangers – 4 wins (7 losses)
- New York Islanders – 4 wins (1 loss)
- New Jersey Devils & Tampa Bay Lightning – 3 wins (2 losses)
- Colorado Avalanche – 3 wins (0 losses)
- Philadelphia Flyers – 2 wins (6 losses)
- Los Angeles Kings – 2 wons (1 loss)
- Dallas Stars – 1 win (4 losses)
- St. Louis Blues – 1 win (3 losses)
- Calgary Flames – 1 win (2 losses)
- Carolina Hurricanes, Anaheim Ducks, Washington Capitals – 1 win (1 loss)
- Vancouver Canucks – 0 wins (3 losses)
- Buffalo Sabres – 0 wins (2 losses)
- Florida Panthers*, Vegas Golden Knights*, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators – 0 wins (1 loss)
*The Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights will improve their standings as they have reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2023.
Only five of the 32 teams have yet to appear in a Stanley Cup Final; Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Seattle Kraken, Arizona Coyotes and the Winnipeg Jets.
Who Are The NHL’s Most Famous Players – Past
- Gordie Howe
- Wayne Gretzky
- Bobby Orr
- Mario Lemieux
- Maurice Richard
- Jean Beliveau
- Terry Sawchuk
- Steve Yzerman
- Jacques Plante
- Bobby Hull
- Guy Lafleur
- Mark Messier
- Marcel Dionne
- Martin Brodeur
- Patrick Roy
- Eddie Shore
- Doug Harvey
- Joe Sakic
- Mike Bossy
- Nicklas Lidstrom
- Jaromir Jagr
Who Are The NHL’s Most Famous Players – Present
- Alex Ovechin
- Connor McDavid
- Auston Matthews
- Nathan MacKinnon
- Cale Makar
- Leon Draisaitl
- Nikita Kucherov
- Sidney Crosby
- Victor Hedman
- Andrei Vasilevskiy
- Roman Josi
- Igor Shesterkin
- Mitch Marner
- Kirill Kaprizov
- Jonathan Huberdeau
- Mikko Rantanen
- Artemi Panarin
- Charlie McAvoy
- Adam Fox
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