Nobody knows for sure where or when the game of hockey was first played but its believed that when hockey was first played in Canada, teams played nine men per side. By the 1880's it had became a 7 man squad consisting of 3 forwards, 2 defense, a goalie and rover played offensively or defensively as the situation required. Teams had switched to a 6 player system before the NHLs first season in 1917.
In the early years of the game goalies weren't allowed to leave their feet to make a save, as a matter of fact they were actually fined $2 if they did so..It wasnt until league president Frank Calder proclaimed "As far as Im concerned they can stand on their head if they choose to". Those words became a catch-phrase for commentators everywhere and goalies play exceptionally well its often said that they are "standing on their heads" in net.
1877: The first known publication of hockey rules are published by the Montreal Gazette.
In the early days minor penalties were 3 minutes and goalies had to serve their own penalties.
1892: Lord Stanley of Preston buys a silver bowl with an interior gold finish and decrees that it be given each year to the best amateur team in Canada. The trophy is known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. That first cup was won by Montreal AAA but by 1926, the NHL had expanded to 10 teams and owned the Stanley Cup.
1895:College athletes from the United States and Canada play the first international series of matches, with the Canadians winning all four games
1910: The Montreal Canadiens play their first game after joining a new league called the National Hockey Association.
1910: Game format changes from two 30-minute halves to three 20-minute periods
1917: Though the NHL is known for 'The Original Six', at its inception, the league was actually formed with 5 teams. Four NHA teams reorganize to form the National Hockey League (Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Quebec Bulldogs, Ottawa Senators) and added a new team the Toronto Arenas. The league's first game was held Dec. 19, 1917.
January 31, 1920 "Phantom Joe" Malone scored seven goals for the Quebec Bulldogs, leading his team to a 10-6 victory over the Toronto St. Patricks. That set an NHL record that still stands today, though seven people have came close since then scoring 6 in a game.
1923 was the year the legendary Foster Hewitt called the games first radio broadcast, an intermediate game between teams from Kitchener and Toronto. He was an immediate hit and before long he hit the big leagues. Fans across the nation became glued to their radio every Saturday night to catch Hewitts vivid play-by-play commentary. Hewitt had became a legend, more popular than the players in the game he called..and by the 1940s he was the number one most famous person in Canada, more famous than the prime minister of Canada himself.
October 11, 1924 the Boston Bruins were granted the first American franchise to join the NHL, a sport that was considered to be at that time a Canadian game with very little adoption to the American public.
In 1924 the Montreal Forum was opened, the first big league arena built with with the sole purpose of hosting hockey games. The arena was built for the new Montreal Maroons - the team representing 'English Montreal'. The Maroons featured the biggest name in hockey in that day, Howie Morenz. Howie was to hockey what Babe Ruth was to baseball, and as part of the famous "Flying Frenchmen" line they lit up the ice and caught the attention of many new hockey fans, both in English speaking Canada and certain key markets across the border in America.
After seeing how successful hockey took off in Boston it was time for New York to get in the game. In 1925-26 the New York Americans and Pittsurgh Pirates (yes, the hockey team:) joined the NHL. The Americans first game in the NHL was played in none other than Madison Square Gardens (which was rented for the evening) before a sell-out crowd of 17,442.
After the owner of Madison Square Gardens (who was primarily a boxing promoter) saw how popular this game of hockey was going to be, he decided he wanted his own franchise and the following season "Tex's Rangers" played their first game in the NHL. For many people attending Rangers games in those days it was more than just a hockey game, these events on the Broadway strip were a social event that brought out New Yorks most elite, the women dressed in fancy dresses and the men in their finest suits and top hats.
1926: The Western Hockey League disbands and sells most of its players to the NHL, leaving the NHL as the undisputed top hockey league in North America.
1926 also seen the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Cougars (who later became the Detroit Red Wings) join the NHL.
1927: NHL institutes rule that allows only team captains to address referees.
In 1927 Conn Smythe arrived in Toronto with a debt to settle againt the Rangers. The previous season Smythe had been hired by the Rangers to build a championship team from scratch, and so he did. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't going to be there to see them win it because the Rangers fired him before their first game. Smythe's mission was to build a team in Toronto that was better than the team he built in New York but only one problem, he was a little short on cash. So Conn Smythe took the $10,000 fee he had earned from the Rangers and bet it on a University of Toronto football game. He then took his winnings from that bet and let it all ride on a Toronto St Patricks hockey game. The Pats won and Smythe now had the $165,000 he needed to buy the St Patricks franchise.
During the 1928 finals, Lester Patrick the coach of the New York Rangers - at the age of 44 - strapped on the goaltending gear to replace his injured goalie, and lead his victory, and set them on their way to become the first American NHL team to win the Stanley Cup.
It was until 1929 that the NHL rules allowed forward passing in the offensive zone, up until that point forward passing was only allowed in the defensive end. It was also that year that the offside rule was instituted in the NHL.
The latter half of the twenties saw some major market arenas being built with Madison Square Gardens in 1925, the Detroit Olympia in 1927, Boston Gardens in 1928 and the Chicago Stadium in 1929.
1934: The Great Depression forces the maximum team bulk payroll to drop from $70,000 to $62,500.
1936: The longest game in NHL history took place on March 24, 1936, during a playoff game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Maroons. The teams battled through 116 minutes and 30 seconds of overtime. Rookie Moderre "Mud" Bruneteau would score in the 6th overtime period to win the game at 2:25 am.
1940: Spalding becomes the puck of choice for the NHL.
1942: The Brooklyn Americans withdraw from the NHL. For the next 25 years the league will be comprised of the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Bruins, Rangers and Black Hawks, now known as "the Original Six.
1942: Due to wartime restrictions on train scheduling, regular season overtime is discontinued.
1945: The NHL season begins in October for the first time.
1946: The year Clarence S Campbell, (born Fleming, SK) took his position as president of the National Hockey League. He held that post until 1977.
1946: Referees begin using hand signals to indicate penalties and other rulings.
1946: Gordie Howe joins the NHL at age 18, earning $2,600 in his rookie season.
1952: Hockey Night in Canada makes its television debut.
1955: Referees wear striped shirts because their usual orange sweaters appear dark on black and white television, making it difficult to distinguish between them and away-team players.
1955: Maurice "Rocket" Richard is suspended for the remainder of the season and the playoffs after punching a linesman during a fight. The suspension sparks the "Richard Riot" in Montreal.
1956: Montreal power play is so devastating, the NHL creates a new rule allowing a player to come out of the penalty box after one man-advantage goal.
1959: After being stitched from a gash opened by a fast-moving puck, Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante stuns the hockey world by refusing to play unless he is allowed to wear the goalie mask he generally only used in practice.
1958: Willie O'Ree (birthplace: Fredericton, New Brunswick) of the Boston Bruins was the first black player in the NHL.
1970: By time of death, goalie Terry Sawchuck sets the unfortunate record of the most injuries, including: pierced eye, severed hand tendons, fractured foot, nine fractured ribs, dislocated arm, ruptured appendix, ruptured disc, punctured lung and over 400 facial stitches
1972: The first Summit series is played (Team Canada vs Soviet Union).
1973: The year that the last NHL netminder (Andy Brown) appeared in a game without a mask.
1976: Darryl Sittler sets an NHL record with 10 points in one game.
1979: The World Hockey Association folds, Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets joining the NHL.
1992: Ottawa Senators join National Hockey League.
1992: The Quebec Nordiques move to Denver and become the Colorado Avalanche.
1994: Wayne Gretzky scores his 802nd goal, surpassing Gordie Howe's all-time record.
1996: The Winnipeg Jets move to Phoenix, where they are re-named the Coyotes.
1997: Craig Mactavish (born London, ON), the last remaining helmetless player in the NHL retired.
1999: The "Great One" Wayne Gretzky retires from professional hockey.
1999: The last player to have the mandatory 3 year waiting period waived before being inducted into the hall of fame was Wayne Gretzky in 1999. The waiting period could only be waived if the player was deemed significant enough. Wayne shares this honour along with 10 other inductees.
