Ice hockey news: Sports for Dummies - The National Hockey League
With the 2024/25 season well and truly underway, Sports News Blitz writer Katie Ransome kicks off a brand new series - Sports for Dummies - looking first at everything ice hockey with the National Hockey League.
The freezing of roots
Rising from the ashes of the National Hockey Association of Canada, the National Hockey League (NHL) was founded in a hotel room in Montreal as a four-team show in 1917, remaining that way for almost 10 years.
Marking the fifth, the Boston Bruins joined in 1925, with the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers following a year later.
Adding the Toronto Maple Leafs and OG team the Montreal Canadiens to that list creates what's commonly known as the ‘Original Six’.
After a quarter-century run with just the ‘Original Six’, the league doubled again in size for the start of the 1967 season, adding the California Seals, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St Louis Blues to its ranks.
Following this expansion, we were given the first iteration of the league’s division system, designed to separate the teams into geographical locations and minimise lengthy travel schedules.
By the end of the 1970s, The National Hockey League was home to 21 teams, with this trend of growth continuing into the early 2000s.
Reminiscent of interest across the pond, the National Hockey League also introduced the Global Series, seeing regular-season games played in the Czech Republic, Finland, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Sweden.
Creating history once more, the NHL then established their Winter Classic, hosting games in some of the US and Canada's most famous sports venues/stadiums.
As of 2024, the league is now made up of 32 teams, spanning four divisions and two conferences having everything from its own draft system to feeder series and a hall of fame.
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Breaking it down
Similar to other sports we're sure you’re familiar with, each NHL team has a Goalie, Defencemen and Forwards, divisible even further into right and left-wing positions, with a maximum of six players on the ice at a time.
The rule of six, however, goes out of the window upon the commitment of a penalty, where one (or a number of a team's players) are sent for a little time out in the penalty box, providing the opposing team an advantage during what's nicknamed the power play period.
Penalties can be called for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
Hooking - The act of impeding an opponents progress/movement with a pulling or tugging motion from the blade of a stick.
Slashing - Defined as a player swinging their stick at an opponent, resultant or not in contact.
Tripping - Called when a player uses their stick or body causing another to trip or fall.
Delay of game - The intentional stopping or delaying of play from any player/team member on or within the confines of the ice pad.
Goaltender interference - When a player makes avoidable contact with the Goaltender either inside or outside of the crease.
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Allowed a roster of up to 24 active skaters during the season, only 20 of those will dress per game, with two goaltenders included in the mix. Players are then split by coaches into lines that switch in and out during the game, averaging bursts of 60-second stints.
NHL teams are allowed more players (up to 90), under the condition that any remaining numbers are classified as ‘on reserve’, generally for injury, or to compete for the club’s junior division teams.
Getting right down to the nitty gritty facts, each game commences with a 16-minute warm-up session, followed by the home and away teams national anthems before a centre face-off, where players line up opposite each other for the referee to drop the puck to mark the start of timed play.
The hockey season runs from October to April, with 82 regular-season games each made up of three 20-minute periods and two 15-minute breaks.
During these seven months, the teams compete to become the best-of-seven, or a wild-card pick progressing to the play-offs, a single victor club eventually being crowned the Stanley Cup Champions (Don't worry, we have more content coming for that later on).
Home to some of the most passionate fans and reel-worthy highlight moments, the National Hockey League is said to present the very best of modern-day sporting competitions, cultures and values.
With so much more to talk about, including ice layout, equipment and famous faces, be sure to keep an eye out for future instalments of the NHL for Dummies collection.
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