When was the National Hockey League founded?

The National Hockey League was founded on November 26, 1917 at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal when team owners established the NHL as the successor to the National Hockey Association of Canada Limited (NHA, founded 1909). The original NHL had four teams: the Montreal Canadiens, the Montreal Wanderers, the Ottawa Senators, and the Toronto Arenas (later renamed Toronto St. Patricks and then Toronto Maple Leafs). The NHL has since grown to 32 franchises and is widely regarded as the world's premier ice hockey league. Hockey is widely recognised as Canada's national winter sport (since the National Sports of Canada Act of 1994).

Hockey's founding period in Canada predated the NHL by decades. The first indoor hockey game was played at the Victoria Skating Rink in Montreal on March 3, 1875, organised by James Creighton (who is sometimes called the Father of Modern Hockey). The Stanley Cup was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston (Frederick Arthur Stanley, Governor General of Canada 1888 to 1893). The Cup was first awarded in March 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. Various amateur and professional leagues operated through the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The 1917 NHL founding emerged from internal NHA disputes. NHA team owners had been trying since 1916 to remove Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone from the league, but the NHA's constitution made expulsion difficult. On November 22, 1917 the other NHA owners (representing the Canadiens, Wanderers, Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs) met at the Windsor Hotel. They decided to dissolve the NHA and form a new league, the NHL, without Livingstone. The NHL's first formal incorporation took place on November 26, 1917. The first NHL season began on December 19, 1917 with the original four teams (the Montreal Wanderers's arena burned down on January 2, 1918 and the franchise folded mid-season).

The NHL grew through the 20th and early 21st centuries. The Original Six era of 1942 to 1967 (Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, and New York Rangers) was marked by stable league composition. The 1967 expansion doubled the league to 12 teams. Subsequent expansions in 1970, 1972, 1974, 1979 (the WHA merger), 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2017 (the Vegas Golden Knights), and 2021 (the Seattle Kraken) brought the league to its current 32 teams. Canadian franchises are the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators (re-established 1992), Winnipeg Jets (re-established 2011), Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks. The Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto (founded 1943, current location since 1993) preserves NHL history. The Stanley Cup remains the championship trophy.