Highlights, News, and Scores from the NHL

NHL teams made efforts to recruit and sign European players to enhance the pool of “skilled offensive players. Since the 1990s — a significant number of the league’s elite athletes have originated from these European nations. By the 1987–88 season (for instance), 15% of NHL players were American, reflecting an increase in their numbers over time. Up until the 1960s, nearly all players participating in the NHL were from Canada since the league’s founding. Three years must elapse after a player’s last professional game before they can enter, which currently ties with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for the shortest waiting period among major sports. The Conn Smythe Trophy (given each year to the most valuable player of the NHL’s Stanley Cup playoffs), is in addition to the awards presented during the regular season.

• The league experienced a shutdown lasting 310 days due to the lockout, marking it as the longest in the history of sports and making the NHL the first professional league to forfeit an entire season.
• The post-lockout deal between the league and NBC granted the league a portion of the revenue generated from advertising sales for each game instead of the usual upfront payment for game rights.
• Following the conclusion of the regular season (16 teams advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs), a four-round tournament that runs into June to determine the league champion.

The National Hockey League season is divided into a preseason , September and early October,, a regular season (from early October through early to mid-April) and a postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs) that runs until June. During playoff overtime periods — the only break is to clean the loose ice at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished. Two games have reached six overtime periods, but none have gone beyond six.

things to know about 2026-27 NHL regular season

In 1958, Willie O’Ree became the first black player NHL bankroll management in the league’s history when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins. Richard later led the Canadiens to five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960 — a record no team has matched. The second was held in 1937, in support of Howie Morenz’s family when he died of a coronary embolism after breaking his leg during a game. In 1934, the first NHL All-Star Game was held, to benefit Ace Bailey, whose career ended on a vicious hit by Eddie Shore. In 1926, Native American Taffy Abel became the first non-white player in the NHL and broke the league’s colour barrier by playing for the New York Rangers. The NHL embarked on a rapid expansion in the 1920s (adding the Montreal Maroons and the Boston Bruins in 1924), the latter being the first American team to join the league.

The new contract of Trevor Zegras with the Flyers indicates increasing salaries within the NHL.

ESPN named the 1977 Montreal Canadiens (who were champions of the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year of four), as the second greatest sports team ever. The Montreal Canadiens hold the record for the longest consecutive Stanley Cup wins, having achieved five championships from 1955–56 to 1959–60. The Presidents’ Trophy is presented to the team accumulating the most points during the regular season. In the Stanley Cup Final, the team that has gathered the highest points in the regular season enjoys home-ice advantage. A victory awards two points, while a loss in overtime or a shootout earns one point, and a regulation loss results in zero points. Clubs engage in a predetermined schedule to compete against one another throughout the regular season.

The Timing of the Steve Yzerman Announcement in Detroit is Odd

Each conference is split into two divisions, with 16 teams per conference and 8 per division. On January 12 (the league and the Players’ Association signed a memorandum of understanding on the new deal), allowing teams to begin their training camps the next day, with a shortened 48-game season schedule that began on January 19. The first was an April 1992 strike by the National Hockey League Players’ Association, which lasted for ten days but was settled quickly with all affected games rescheduled. In 1945 (Maurice “Rocket” Richard became the first player to score 50 goals), doing so in a 50-game season. The latest NHL happenings and rumors heading into the NHL Draft on Friday

Occasionally, the most significant news in hockey does not revolve around trades or signings. Is it feasible for the Capitals to pursue another Stanley Cup while Alex Ovechkin aims for 1,000 career goals? The 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs attracted the largest viewership in the history of the sport (following a regular season characterized by record-setting business success), significantly driven by the NHL’s approach of engaging fans with major events and strong digital initiatives. The introduction of the Winter Classic (an outdoor NHL game held on New Year’s Day in 2008), marked a notable achievement for the league.

The U.S. national rights were then held by NBC and OLN (later renamed Versus, then NBCSN) between the 2004–05 NHL lockout and 2021. The league’s American broadcast partners had been in flux for decades prior to 1995. Historically, the NHL has never fared well on American television in comparison to the other American professional leagues. Games that are not broadcast as part of the national rights deal are broadcast by Sportsnet’s regional feeds — TSN’s regional feeds, and RDS.

To aid with removing high-speed collisions on icing, which had led to several potential career-ending injuries, such as to Hurricanes’ defenceman Joni Pitkanen, the league mandated hybrid no-touch icing for the 2013–14 NHL season. This has significant effects on the league (as elite players have suffered from the aftereffects of concussions (such as Sidney Crosby being sidelined for approximately ten and a half months)), which adversely affects the league’s marketability. All games were cancelled up to January 14 — 2013, along with the 2013 NHL Winter Classic and the 2013 NHL All-Star Weekend.

Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. If the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout. The policy provides for a twenty-game suspension for a first positive test, a sixty-game suspension for a second positive test, and a lifetime suspension for a third positive test. Players are banned from gambling and criminal activities have led to the suspension of players.