title	National Hockey League (NHL)
current season	2011-12 NHL season
logo	05 NHL Shield.svg
pixels	180px
sport	Ice hockey
founded	November 22, 1917, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
inaugural	1917–18
ceo	Gary Bettman
headquarters	Manhattan, New York, United States
teams	30
country	(7 teams) (23 teams)
continent	North America
champion	Boston Bruins (6th title)
most champs	Montreal Canadiens (25 NHL titles, 24 Stanley Cups)
tv	Canada: CBC, NHL Network, RDS, RIS, TSN, TSN2 United States: NBC, NHL Network, Versus
website	NHL.com }}

The National Hockey League (NHL; ) is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States. Headquartered in New York City, the NHL is widely considered to be the premier professional ice hockey league in the world, and one of the major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada. The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, is awarded annually to the league playoff champion at the end of each season.

The league was organized on November 22, 1917, in Montreal, Canada, during World War I after the suspension of operations of its predecessor organization, the National Hockey Association (NHA), which had been founded in 1909. It started with four teams and, through a series of expansions, contractions, and relocations, the league is now composed of 30 active franchises. After a labour dispute that led to the cancellation of the entire 2004–05 season, the league resumed play under a new collective bargaining agreement that included a salary cap. In 2009, the NHL enjoyed record highs in terms of sponsorships, crowds and television audiences.

The NHL draws many highly skilled players from all over the world and currently has players from about 20 different countries. Although Canadians have historically constituted the majority of the players in the NHL, over the past four plus decades the percentages of American and European trained players have increased both because of the NHL's continued expansion from six to thirty clubs since 1967, and the increased availability of highly skilled European players, especially from former Eastern Bloc countries.

History

Early years

A series of disputes in the National Hockey Association (NHA) with Toronto Blueshirts owner Eddie Livingstone led the other owners, representing the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, and Quebec Bulldogs to meet at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal to talk about the NHA's future. Realizing the league constitution left them unable to force Livingstone out, the four teams voted instead to suspend the NHA, and on November 26, 1917, formed the National Hockey League. While a full member of the new league, the Bulldogs were unable to play, and the remaining owners created a new team in Toronto to compete with the Canadiens, Wanderers and Senators. The first games were played three weeks later on December 19. Joe Malone scored five goals in a 7–4 victory for the Canadiens over the Senators on opening night; he finished the 1917–18 season with 44 goals in 20 games. The league nearly collapsed in January 1918 when the Montreal Arena burned down, causing the Wanderers to cease operations and forcing the Canadiens to hastily find a new arena. The NHL continued on as a three-team league until Quebec returned in 1919.

Toronto won the first league title, then defeated the Pacific Coast Hockey Association's Vancouver Millionaires to win the 1918 Stanley Cup The Canadiens won the league title in 1919, however their Stanley Cup Final against the Seattle Metropolitans was abandoned with the series tied after several players became ill as a result of the Spanish Flu epidemic that resulted in Montreal defenceman Joe Hall's death. Montreal defeated the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL) in 1924 to win their first Stanley Cup in the NHL. The Hamilton Tigers, who had relocated from Quebec in 1920, won the regular season title in 1924–25 but refused to play in the championship series unless they were given a C$200 bonus. The league refused and declared the Canadiens the league champion after they defeated the Toronto St. Patricks in the semi-final. Montreal was then defeated by the Victoria Cougars for the 1925 Stanley Cup. It was the last time a non-NHL team won the trophy, as the Stanley Cup became the ''de facto'' NHL championship in 1926 after the WCHL ceased operations.

The league embarked on rapid expansion in the 1920s, adding the Montreal Maroons and Boston Bruins in 1924. The Bruins were the first American team in the NHL, while the Maroons played in the newly completed Montreal Forum that the Canadiens made famous in later decades. The New York Americans began play in 1925 after purchasing the assets of the Hamilton Tigers, and were joined by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tex Rickard, owner of Madison Square Garden, was so impressed with the popularity of the Americans that he added the New York Rangers in 1926. The Chicago Black Hawks and Detroit Cougars (later Red Wings) were also added after the league purchased the assets of the defunct WCHL. Conn Smythe purchased the Toronto St. Patricks in 1927, immediately renamed them the Maple Leafs, and built Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931.

The Great Depression and the onset of World War II took a toll on the league. The Pirates became the Philadelphia Quakers in 1930, then folded one year later. The Senators likewise became the St. Louis Eagles in 1934, also lasting only one year. The Canadiens were nearly sold and relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1936 before a trio of local owners purchased the team and kept them in Montreal. The Maroons did not survive, however, as they suspended operations in 1938. The Americans were suspended in 1942 due to a lack of players, but never revived. The league was reduced to six teams for the 1942–43 NHL season: the Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. These six teams remained constant for 25 years, a period known as the Original Six.

The first NHL All-Star Game was held in 1934 to benefit Ace Bailey, whose career ended on a vicious hit by Eddie Shore. 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. His teammate Aurel Joliat said that Morenz "died of a broken heart" when he learned he would never play hockey again. Maurice "Rocket" Richard became the first player to score 50 goals, doing so in a 50 game season. Ten years later he was suspended for the 1955 Stanley Cup playoffs for punching a linesman, an incident that led to the Richard Riot. He returned to lead the Canadiens to five consecutive titles between 1956 and 1960, a record no team has matched. Willie O'Ree broke the NHL's colour barrier on January 18, 1958 when he made his debut with the Boston Bruins and became the first black player in league history.

Expansion

By the mid 1960s, the desire for a network television contract in the U.S., and concerns that the Western Hockey League was planning to declare itself a major league and challenge for the Stanley Cup, spurred the NHL to undertake its first expansion since the 1920s. The league doubled in size for the 1967–68 season, adding the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, California Seals and St. Louis Blues. Canadians were outraged that all six teams were placed in the United States, and the league responded by adding the Vancouver Canucks in 1970 along with the Buffalo Sabres, who are located on the U.S.-Canadian border. Two years later, the emergence of the newly founded World Hockey Association (WHA) led the league to add the New York Islanders and Atlanta Flames to keep the rival league out of those markets. In 1974, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts were added, bringing the league up to 18 teams.

The NHL fought the WHA for players, losing 67 to the new league in its first season of 1972–73, including Bobby Hull, who signed a ten year, $2.5 million contract with the Winnipeg Jets, the largest in hockey history at the time. The NHL attempted to block the defections in court, though a countersuit by the WHA led to a Philadelphia judge ruling the NHL's reserve clause to be illegal, eliminating the elder league's monopoly over the players. Seven years of battling for players and markets financially damaged both leagues, leading to a 1979 merger agreement that saw the WHA cease operations while the NHL absorbed the Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Hartford Whalers and Quebec Nordiques.

Wayne Gretzky played one season in the WHA before joining the NHL in 1979–80 with the Oilers. He went on to lead the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships in 1984, 1985, 1987 and 1988, and set single season records for goals (92 in 1981–82), assists (163 in 1985–86) and points (215 in 1985–86), as well as career records for goals (894), assists (1,963) and points (2,857). He was traded to the Kings in 1988, a deal that dramatically improved the NHL's popularity in the United States, and provided the impetus for the 1990s expansion cycles that saw the addition of the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Ottawa Senators, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers, Minnesota Wild and Columbus Blue Jackets.

Labour issues

There have been three league-wide work stoppages in NHL history, all happening between 1992 and 2005.

The first was a strike by the National Hockey League Players Association in April 1992 which lasted for 10 days, but the strike was settled quickly and all affected games were rescheduled. A lockout at the start of the 1994–95 season forced the league to reduce the schedule from 84 games to just 48, with the teams playing only intra-conference games during the reduced season. The resulting collective bargaining agreement was set for renegotiation in 1998 and extended to September 15, 2004.

With no new agreement in hand when the existing contract expired on September 15, 2004, league commissioner Gary Bettman announced a lockout of the players union and cessation of operations by the NHL head office. The lockout shut down the league for 310 days, the longest in sports history; the NHL was the first professional sports league to lose an entire season. The league vowed to install what it dubbed "cost certainty" for its teams, but the NHL Players Association countered that the move was little more than a euphemism for a salary cap, which the union initially said it would not accept. A new collective bargaining agreement was ratified in July 2005 with a term of six years with an option of extending the collective bargaining agreement for an additional year at the end of the term, allowing the NHL to resume as of the 2005–06 season.

On October 5, 2005, the first post-lockout NHL season took to the ice with 15 games, and consequently all 30 teams. Of those 15 games, 11 were in front of sell-out crowds. The NHL received record attendance in the 2005–06 season. 20,854,169 fans, an average of 16,955 per game, was a 1.2% increase over the previous mark held in the 2001–02 season. Also, the Montreal Canadiens, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Vancouver Canucks sold out all of their home games; all six Canadian teams played to 98% capacity or better at every home game. 24 of the 30 clubs finished even or ahead of their 2003–04 mark. The Pittsburgh Penguins had the highest increase at 33%, mainly because of 18-year-old first overall draft pick Sidney Crosby. After losing a season to a labour dispute in 2005, attendance figures for League teams have returned to solid ground; the League's TV audience was slower to rebound because of ESPN's decision to drop the sport from its schedule. The NHL's post-lockout agreement with NBC gave the league a share of revenue from each game's advertising sales, rather than the usual lump sum paid up front for game rights. The NHL is estimated to earn annual revenue of around $2.27 billion.

The debut of the Winter Classic, an outdoor regular season NHL game held on New Year's Day 2008, was a major success for the league. The game has since become a permanent staple of the NHL schedule. This, along with the transition to a national "Game of the Week" and an annual "Hockey Day in America" regional coverage, has helped increase the NHL's regular season television viewership, which is now carried by NBC and Versus. These improvements led NBC and Versus to sign a ten-year broadcast deal paying $200 million per year for both cable and broadcast rights; the deal will lead to further increases in television coverage on both outlets.

Organizational structure

The NHL Board of Governors is the ruling and governing body of the NHL. In this context, each NHL team is a member of the NHL, and each member appoints a Governor (usually the owner of the club), and two alternates to the Board. The current chairman of the Board is Boston Bruins owner, Jeremy Jacobs. The previous chairman was Harley Hotchkiss, owner of the Calgary Flames. The current vice-chairman of the Board is Tom Hicks, owner of the Dallas Stars. The NHL Board of Governors exists to establish the policies of the NHL, and to uphold its constitution. Some of the responsibilities of the NHL Board of Governors include :

review and approve any rule changes to the game

hiring and firing of the NHL commissioner

review and approve the purchase, sale, or relocation of any member club.

review and approve the salary caps for member clubs.

review and approve any changes to the structure of the game schedule

The Board of Governors meets twice per year, in June and December, with the exact date and place to be fixed by the NHL Commissioner.

Executives

The chief executive of the NHL is the commissioner. Some of the principal decision makers who serve under the authority of the NHL commissioner include:

Deputy Commissioner & Chief Legal Officer – Bill Daly

Executive VP & CFO – Craig Harnett

Chief Operating Officer – John Collins

Executive VP & Director of Hockey Operations – Colin Campbell

NHL Enterprises – Ed Horne

Game

Each National Hockey League regulation game is played between two teams and is 60 minutes long. The game is composed of three 20-minute periods with an intermission of either 15½ or 17 minutes (if nationally televised) between periods. Television timeouts are taken at the first stoppage of play after 6, 10, and 14 minutes of elapsed time unless there is a power play or the first stoppage is the result of a goal scored. In these cases, the timeout will occur at the first stoppage after the penalty expires or the next stoppage after the goal, respectively. A new rule was introduced for the 2007–08 season that if the first stoppage of play is an icing, the TV timeout does not occur. This is to prevent players from getting a break despite not being allowed to change. At the end of the 60-minute regulation time, the team with the most goals wins the game. If a game is tied after regulation time, overtime ensues. During the regular season, overtime is a five-minute, four-player on four-player sudden-death period, in which the first team to score a goal wins the game. Until the 2005–06 season, if no team was able to score in the five-minute overtime, the game ended in a tie.

Beginning in the 2005–06 season, if the game is still tied at the end of overtime, the game enters a shootout. Three players for each team in turn take a penalty shot. The team with the most goals during the three-round shootout wins the game. If the game is still tied after the three shootout rounds, the shootout continues but becomes sudden death. Whichever team ultimately wins the shootout is awarded a goal in the game score and thus awarded two points in the standings. The losing team in overtime or shootout is awarded only one. Shootout goals and saves are not tracked in hockey statistics; shootout statistics are tracked separately.

Shootouts do not occur during the playoffs. In the playoffs, sudden-death 20-minute five-on-five periods are played until one team scores. While in theory a game could continue indefinitely, only four games have reached five overtime periods, two have reached six, and none have gone beyond six. There are no television timeouts during playoff overtime periods; the only break is to clean the loose ice at the first stoppage after the period is halfway finished.

Hockey rink

National Hockey League games are played on a rectangular hockey rink with rounded corners surrounded by walls and plexiglass. It measures 25.91 by 60.92 metres (85 by 200 ft) in the NHL, while international standards call for a rink measuring 29–30 metres by 60–61 metres (95.14–98.43 ft by 196.85–200.13 ft). The center line divides the ice in half, and is used to judge icing violations. There are two blue lines that divide the rink roughly into thirds, which divide the ice into two attacking and one neutral zone. Near the end of both ends of the rink, there is a thin red ''goal line'' spanning the width of the ice, which is used to judge goals and icing calls.

Starting in the 2005–2006 season, after testing in the American Hockey League, a trapezoidal area behind each goal net has been introduced. The goaltender can only play the puck within that area or in front of the goal line; if the goaltender plays the puck behind the goal line and not in the trapezoidal area, a two minute minor penalty for delay of game is assessed by the referees.

Rules

: ''Main articles: National Hockey League rules'' While the National Hockey League follows the general rules of ice hockey, it differs slightly from those used in international games organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) such as the Olympics. Infractions of the rules can lead to either the stoppage of play in the case of offside and icing calls, or a penalty call for more serious infractions.

During the 2004–05 lockout, the league changed some of the rules regarding being offside. First, the league removed the "offside pass" or "two-line pass" rule, which required a stoppage in play if a pass originating from inside a team's defending zone was completed on the offensive side of the center line, unless the puck crossed the line before the player. Furthermore, the league reinstated the "tag-up offside" which allows an attacking player a chance to get back onside by returning to the neutral zone. The changes to the offside rule were among several rule changes intended to increase overall scoring, which had been in decline since the expansion years of the mid-nineties and the increased prevalence of the neutral zone trap.

Another rule difference between the NHL and the IIHF rules concerns how icings are called. In the NHL, a linesman stops play due to icing if a defending player (other than the goaltender) touches the puck before an attacking player is able to, in contrast to the IIHF rules where play is stopped the moment the puck crosses the goal line. As a result of the rule changes following the 2004–05 lockout, when a team is guilty of icing the puck they are not allowed to make a line change, or skater substitution of any sort (except for a clearly injured player) before the following faceoff.

The NHL and IIHF differ also in penalty rules. The NHL, in addition to the minor and double minor penalties called in IIHF games, calls ''major penalties'' which are more dangerous infractions of the rules, such as fighting, and have a duration of five minutes. This is in contrast to the IIHF rule, in which players who fight are ejected from the game. Usually a penalized team cannot replace a player that is penalized on the ice and is thus shorthanded for the duration of the penalty, but if the penalties are coincidental, for example when two players fight, both teams remain at full strength. Also, unlike minor penalties, major penalties must be served to their full completion, regardless of number of goals scored during the power play.

The NHL and the NHLPA created a stringent anti-doping policy in the new CBA of September 2005. The policy provides for a 20 game suspension for a first positive test, a 60 game suspension for a second positive test, and a lifetime suspension for a third positive test.

Teams

The National Hockey League originated in 1917 with four Canadian teams, which after a tumultous first quarter century, found stability in the Original Six era spanning 1942 – 1967 with four franchises in the United States joining two Canadian clubs. Through a sequence of team expansions, reductions, and relocations the NHL currently consists of 30 teams, 23 of which are based in the United States and seven in Canada. The Montreal Canadiens are the most successful franchise with 24 Stanley Cup championships (23 as an NHL team, 1 as an NHA team); in the four major professional sports leagues the Montreal Canadiens are only surpassed in the number of championships by the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, who have three more. The next most successful franchise is the Toronto Maple Leafs with 13 Stanley Cup championships, but they have not won one since 1967. The Detroit Red Wings, with 11 Stanley Cup championships, are the most successful American franchise. The longest streak of winning the Stanley Cup in consecutive years is five, held by the Montreal Canadiens from 1955–56 to 1959–60; the New York Islanders (1980–1983) and the Montreal Canadiens (1976–1979) have four-year championship streaks. The 1977 edition of the Montreal Canadiens, the second of four straight Stanley Cup champions, was named by ESPN as the second greatest sports team of all-time.

Of all the major leagues in North America, the NHL is the only league to field teams that play in two countries' capital cities, Ottawa, Ontario and Washington, D.C.

The current league organization divides the teams into two conferences: the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. Each conference has three divisions, and each division has five teams. The current organization has roots in the 1998–99 season when a league realignment added two divisions to bring the total number of divisions to six; the current team alignment began with the 2000–01 season when the Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets joined the league as expansion teams.

Sixteen of the NHL's thirty teams are located in the Eastern Time Zone. As of the 2011–12 season, the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets are the only Eastern Time teams in the Western Conference, and Winnipeg is the only non-Eastern Time team in the Eastern Conference (an alignment resulting from the franchise's late move out of Atlanta). Realignment is widely expected at some point subsequent to the 2011–12 season.

List of teams

; Notes

Defunct and relocated teams

There have been 19 NHL teams that either folded or relocated. The first team to disband was the Montreal Wanderers in 1918, due to a lack of players. The first team to relocate was the Quebec Athletic Club, who relocated to Hamilton, Ontario in 1920 to become the Hamilton Tigers. NHL president Frank Calder stripped the franchise from owner Mike Quinn and sold it to a Hamilton-based company. Three franchises became defunct due to the Great Depression: the Philadelphia Quakers, the St. Louis Eagles, and the Montreal Maroons. The Brooklyn Americans were the last team to fold in the NHL. In the early 1940s, the franchise was struggling financially, and was suspended prior to the due to a lack of players during World War II. The franchise formally ceased operations in 1946, and their demise began a period in the league's history known as the "Original Six".

The 1967 NHL expansion added six teams, but one of those teams, the Oakland Seals moved to become the Cleveland Barons before merging with the Minnesota North Stars. With six more expansion teams, and the NHL–WHA merger, the league expanded to 21 teams by 1979. Three of the four teams from the merger have since relocated to other cities: the Quebec Nordiques, the original Winnipeg Jets, and the Hartford Whalers. The Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche in 1995, while the Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996, with the Whalers becoming the Carolina Hurricanes a year later.

During the 2010-11 playoffs, the Atlanta Thrashers franchise was contingently acquired by True North Sports and Entertainment with the intent to move the team to Winnipeg, Manitoba for 2011–12. The purchase and relocation were unanimously approved by the NHL Board of Governors on June 21.

Season structure

The National Hockey League season is divided into an exhibition season (September), a regular season (from the first week in October through early to mid April) and a postseason (the Stanley Cup playoffs). During the exhibition season, teams may play other teams from the NHL. They also often compete against European clubs, such as clubs from the Russian KHL. During the regular season, clubs play each other in a predefined schedule. The Stanley Cup playoffs, which go from April to the beginning of June, is an elimination tournament where two teams play against each other to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The final remaining team is crowned the Stanley Cup champion. Beginning in 2007, the NHL regular season has begun in Europe while teams not involved complete their exhibition schedule.

In the regular season, each team plays 82 games; 41 games at home and 41 on the road. Each team plays 24 games in its division (6 against each divisional opponent), and 40 games against non-divisional intra-conference opponents. That is, 4 games against each team in its conference, but not in its own division. Each team plays every team in the other conference at least once (one game each against 12 teams and two games against the remaining 3 teams). Prior to the 2008–2009 season, teams played 32 games within their division (8 games against each team in the division) and 10 inter-conference games (1 game against each team in two of the three divisions in the opposite conference). The two divisions from the opposite conference which each team plays against were rotated every year, much like interleague play in Major League Baseball. As with the current system, each team played 4 games against the other 10 teams in its conference, but not in its own division.

Unlike a majority of other North American sports leagues, the NHL's regular season standings are based on a point system instead of pure win-loss-tie percentages. Points are awarded for each game, where two points are awarded for a win, one point for losing in overtime or a shootout, and zero points for a loss in regulation. Among major professional sports leagues, the NHL is the only one to award a team points for losing in overtime.

At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the division champion. The league's overall leader is awarded the Presidents' Trophy. The three division champions along with the five other teams in each conference with the next highest number of points, for a total of 8 teams in each conference, qualify for the playoffs. The division winners are seeded one through three (even if a non-division winner has a higher point total), and the next five teams with the best records in the conference are seeded four through eight. The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament, where two teams battle to win a best-of-seven series in order to advance to the next round. The first round of the playoffs, or conference quarterfinals, consists of the first seed playing the eighth seed, the second playing the seventh, third playing the sixth, and the fourth playing the fifth. In the second round, or conference semifinals, the NHL re-seeds the teams, with the top remaining conference seed playing against the lowest remaining seed, and the other two remaining conference teams pairing off. In the third round, the conference finals, the two remaining teams in each conference play each other, with the conference champions proceeding to the Stanley Cup Finals.

In each round the higher-ranked team is said to be the team with the home-ice advantage. Four of the seven games are played at this team's home venue—the first and second, and, when necessary, the fifth and seventh games—with the other games played at the lower-ranked team's home venue. In the Stanley Cup Finals, the team with the most points during the regular season is given home-ice advantage, regardless of where each team ranks in their own conference.

Trophies and awards

+ Total Stanley Cup championshipsList of defunct NHL teams	Defunct teams not included.	Team	! Titles
Montreal Canadiens	24*
Toronto Maple Leafs	13
Detroit Red Wings	11
Boston Bruins	6
Edmonton Oilers	5
Chicago Blackhawks	4
New York Islanders	4
New York Rangers	4
New Jersey Devils	3
Pittsburgh Penguins	3
Colorado Avalanche	2
Philadelphia Flyers	2
Anaheim Ducks	1
Calgary Flames	1
Carolina Hurricanes	1
Dallas Stars	1
Tampa Bay Lightning	1

The National Hockey League presents a number of trophies each year. The most prestigious team award is the Stanley Cup, which is awarded to the league champion at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The team that has the most points in the regular season is awarded the Presidents' Trophy. There are also numerous trophies that are awarded to players based on their statistics during the regular season; they include, among others, the Art Ross Trophy for the league scoring champion (goals and assists), the Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy for the goal-scoring leader, and the William M. Jennings Trophy for the goalkeeper(s) for the team with the fewest goals against them. For the 2010–11 season these statistics-based trophies were awarded to Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks, Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks, and, dually, Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider of the Vancouver Canucks respectively.

The other player trophies are voted on by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association or the team general managers. These individual awards are presented at a formal ceremony held in late June after the playoffs have concluded. The most prestigious individual award is the Hart Memorial Trophy which is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player; the voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association to judge the player who is the most valuable to his team during the regular season. The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the person deemed the best goalkeeper as voted on by the general managers of the teams in the NHL. The James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's top defenceman, the Calder Memorial Trophy is awarded annually to the top rookie, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy is awarded to the player deemed to combine the highest degree of skill and sportsmanship; all three of these awards are voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

In addition to the regular season awards, the Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded annually to the most valuable player during the NHL's Stanley Cup playoffs. Furthermore, the top coach in the league wins the Jack Adams Award as selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association. The National Hockey League publishes the names of the top three vote getters for all awards, and then names the award winner during the NHL Awards Ceremony.

One interesting aspect for the trophies in the NHL is that the same trophy is reused every year for each of its awards. The Stanley Cup, much like its CFL counterpart, is unique in this aspect, as opposed to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Larry O'Brien Trophy, and Commissioner's Trophy, which have new ones made every year for that year's champion. Despite only one trophy being used, the names of the teams winning and the players are engraved every year on the Stanley Cup. The same can also be said for the other trophies reissued every year.

Players, coaches, officials, and team builders who have had notable careers are eligible to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Players cannot enter until three years have passed since their last professional game, the shortest such time period of any major sport. One unique consequence has been Hall of Fame members (specifically, Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, and Mario Lemieux) coming out of retirement to play once more. If a player was deemed significant enough, the three-year wait would be waived; only ten individuals have been honoured in this manner. In 1999, Wayne Gretzky joined the Hall and became the last player to have the three-year restriction waived. After his induction, the Hall of Fame announced that Gretzky would be the last to have the waiting period waived.

Notable active players

The top five point scorers in the 2010–11 season were Daniel Sedin (104), Martin St. Louis (99), Corey Perry (98), Henrik Sedin (94), and Steven Stamkos (91). The top goal scorers were Corey Perry (50), Steven Stamkos (45), Jarome Iginla (43), Daniel Sedin (41), and Ryan Kesler (41). The top four scoring defencemen were Lubomir Visnovsky, Nicklas Lidstrom, Keith Yandle, and Dustin Byfuglien. The top goaltenders (by wins) were Roberto Luongo (38), Carey Price (38), Miikka Kiprusoff (37), Cam Ward (37), and Jimmy Howard (37).

Origin of players

In addition to Canadian and American born and trained players, who have historically composed a large majority of NHL rosters, the NHL also draws players from an expanding pool of other nations where organized and professional hockey is played. A steady stream of European players began entering the league in the 1970s, continuing into the 1980s. Most of the first wave of Europeans came from Sweden and Finland, with a small number of defectors from the Soviet Bloc. Since the collapse of the Soviet Bloc, political/ideological restrictions on the movement of hockey players from this region have disappeared, leading to a large influx of players mostly from Czech Republic, Slovakia and Russia into the NHL. Swedes, Finns, and other Western Europeans, who were always free to move to North America, came to the league in greater numbers than before. Many of the league's top players today come from these European countries, including: Ilya Kovalchuk, Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Zetterberg, Marian Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom, Miikka Kiprusoff, Teemu Selanne, Zdeno Chara, Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Ovechkin. European players were drafted and signed by NHL teams in an effort to bring in more "skilled offensive players", although recently there has been a decline in European players as more American players enter the league. The addition of European players changed the style of play in the NHL and European style hockey has been integrated in to the NHL game. Conversely Canadian coaches and the Canadian style of play have been embraced by many European countries. Because of the continued success of Canadian teams in world tournaments many other countries are trying to model their development programs after Hockey Canada's. In the 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic years, the league voluntarily suspended its all star game and expanded the traditional all star break to allow NHL players an opportunity to represent their respective countries. The 2010 Winter Olympics were held in Vancouver, an NHL city. Currently, as of late 2010 there is no agreement in place between the NHL and the IOC regarding the 2014 Winter Olympic games in Russia. The NHL has players from 18 different countries, with the majority (52.0 percent during the 2007–08 NHL season) coming from Canada.

The following table shows the origins of every player (skaters and goaltenders) who played an NHL regular season game in the given year. The table follows the Hockey Hall of Fame convention of classifying players by the currently existing countries in which their birthplaces are located, without regard to their citizenship or where they were trained.

style="background:lightgrey; width:8.5em"	Country	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%	! style="background:lightgrey; width:5.2em"	%
Austria	1	0.1	3	0.3	3	0.3	2	0.2	2	0.2	3	0.3	3	0.3
Bahamas						1	0.1	1	0.1
Belarus	2	0.2	2	0.2	3	0.3	2	0.2	3	0.3	3	0.3	3	0.3
Brazil	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Brunei	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Canada	488	49.8	548	54.3	517	53.8	495	52.7	489	52.0	509	52.3	520	53.9
Croatia		1	0.1
Czech Republic	73	7.4	74	7.3	65	6.8	65	6.9	59	6.3	57	5.9	48	5.0
Denmark				1	0.1	2	0.2	6	0.6	6	0.6
England	England, United Kingdom	2	0.2	2	0.2			1	0.1
Finland	38	3.9	38	3.8	39	4.1	42	4.5	40	4.3	42	4.3	39	4.0
France	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Germany	6	0.6	6	0.6	8	0.8	8	0.8	9	1.0	9	0.9	10	1.0
Indonesia			1	0.1	1	0.1
Italy						1	0.1	1	0.1
Japan				1	0.1			1	0.1
Kazakhstan	2	0.2	3	0.3	6	0.6	4	0.4	3	0.3	2	0.2	3	0.3
Latvia	5	0.5	4	0.4	3	0.3	4	0.4	3	0.3	5	0.5	5	0.5
Lithuania	2	0.2	2	0.2	2	0.2	2	0.2	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland, United Kingdom	1	0.1	1	0.1		1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Norway	1	0.1	2	0.2	1	0.1	2	0.2	2	0.2	1	0.1	1	0.1
Poland	2	0.2	2	0.2	3	0.3	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Russia	57	5.8	57	5.6	40	4.2	35	3.7	30	3.2	32	3.3	33	3.4
Slovakia	35	3.6	37	3.7	31	3.2	25	2.7	23	2.4	18	1.8	18	1.9
Slovenia				1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
South Africa	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
South Korea	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1	1	0.1
Sweden	58	5.9	52	5.1	45	4.7	49	5.2	52	5.5	53	5.4	52	5.4
Switzerland	2	0.2	3	0.3	4	0.4	5	0.5	6	0.6	5	0.5	3	0.3
Ukraine	8	0.8	8	0.8	8	0.8	9	1.0	5	0.5	4	0.4	2	0.2
United States	140	14.3	160	15.8	177	18.4	182	19.3	203	21.6	216	22.2	207	21.5
Total	980	100.0	1010	100.0	961	100.0	942	100.0	941	100.0	974	100.0	965	100.0

Television and radio

Canada

In Canada, National Hockey League games are aired nationally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and The Sports Network (TSN). CBC airs ''Hockey Night in Canada'', a long-standing Canadian tradition dating to 1952, and even prior to that on radio since the 1920s. The current incarnation of ''Hockey Night in Canada'' airs a weekly Saturday night double-header during the regular season, with the first game usually featuring at least one Eastern Canadian team, and the second game at least one Western Canadian team. TSN usually televises three or four games per week during the regular season, with their primary night being Wednesdays. Coverage of the first three rounds of the playoffs is split between CBC and TSN, with the former primarily televising any series involving Canadian teams. CBC also broadcasts the Stanley Cup Finals.

French language games are broadcast by the Réseau des sports (RDS) and Réseau Info-Sports (RIS), including all Montreal Canadiens games, selected Ottawa Senator games, and the playoffs.

Several regional broadcasters air local team games, primarily regional networks owned by Rogers Sportsnet (RSN), and Leafs TV for selected Toronto Maple Leafs games. TSN also airs a regional "TSN Habs" feed for selected Canadiens games.

United States

Historically, the NHL has never fared well on American television in comparison to the other major leagues in North America. While CBC's aforementioned ''Hockey Night in Canada'' has been a tradition since the 1950s, the league's American broadcast partners have been in constant flux for decades, ranging from such networks as CBS, SportsChannel America, the USA Network, Fox, ABC, and ESPN.

Since the 2005-06 season however, NHL games have aired nationally by the cable channel Versus (previously the "Outdoor Life Network" and to become "NBC Sports Network" in 2012) and by the broadcast network NBC. Originally, NBC had a revenue-sharing agreement with the league to broadcast games, with no money paid up front by the network. Versus had about 20 million fewer subscribers than ESPN when the NHL started on Versus, but its owner Comcast switched Versus from a digital tier to basic cable to make NHL games available to more cable subscribers as well as re-branded the network as a sports network. For Versus, the NHL coverage was a good addition as Versus' ratings grew by about 275% when it showed an NHL game.

In January 2011, Comcast officially acquired NBC Universal, and then in April of that year the league negotiated a new 10-year deal with the merged media company, worth nearly $2 billion dollars. Comcast/NBC also announced that Versus would become NBC Sports Network, and both the cable channel and NBC would increase its number of games.

XM Satellite Radio is the official satellite radio broadcaster of the NHL, as of July 1, 2007. Between September 2005 and June 2007, the NHL's broadcasting rights were shared with both XM and Sirius Satellite Radio and were broadcast on just Sirius before the NHL lockout. XM used to broadcast more than 80% of NHL games, including all the play-offs and finals. Starting with the 2007–08 season, XM broadcasts every game.

International

Outside of Canada and the United States, NHL games are broadcast across Europe on ESPN America which takes feeds from Versus, FSN, TSN and CBC (including Hockey Night in Canada), and MSG. Games can also be seen in the UK on ESPN, on Fox Sports in Australia, on SKY Sport in Italy, on Viasat Sport in Russia, Norway, Finland, and Denmark on Viasat Hockey in Sweden and in Portugal on SportTV. In the Americas, NHL games are broadcast across Mexico, Central America and Dominican Republic on SKY México. Stanley Cup games can also be viewed in New Zealand on Sky Sport. In Brazil, the games will be broadcast on ESPN International.

Popularity

The NHL is considered one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, along with Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association. The league is very prominent in Canada, where hockey is the most popular of these four major sports as well as the CFL. Overall, hockey has the smallest total fan base of the four leagues, the smallest revenue from television, and the least sponsorship.

While the NHL does not hold one of the largest fan bases in North America, it does hold one of the most affluent fan bases. Studies by the Sports Marketing Group conducted from 1998 to 2004 show that the NHL's fan base is much more affluent than that of the PGA Tour. A study done by the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2004, found that NHL fans in America were the most educated and affluent of the four major leagues. They were also found to be substantially more computer literate than the other fans. Further it noted that season-ticket sales were more prominent in the NHL than the other three because of the ability of the NHL fan to purchase them, something more out of reach for fans of the other leagues. According to Reuters in 2010, the largest demographic of NHL fans was highly sought after group males aged 18–34, who were also shown to be more "tech savvy" than most fans.

The NHL estimates that fully half of its fan base roots for teams in outside markets. Beginning in 2008, under the direction of Chief Operating Officer John Collins, the NHL began a shift toward using digital technology to market to fans to capitalize on this.

This has boosted viewership metrics for the NHL. The 2010 Stanley Cup play-offs saw the largest audience in the history of the sport "after a regular season that saw record-breaking business success, propelled in large part by the NHL's strategy of engaging fans through big events and robust digital offerings." This success has resulted in a 66 percent rise in NHL advertising and sponsorship revenue. Collins said "It was a great Stanley Cup run, really across every possible metric .... Our fans are consuming more hockey." Merchandise sales were up 22 percent and the number of unique visitors on the NHL.com website were up 17 percent during the playoffs after rising 29 percent in the regular season.

Causes

The NHL advocates for a number of causes throughout the season. During the days leading up to Remembrance Day (November 11), in respect of the day, coaches and other NHL officials wear red poppy lapel pins. Hockey Fights Cancer is a joint initiative founded in December 1998 by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association to raise money and awareness for hockey's most important fight. It is supported by NHL Member Clubs, NHL Alumni, the NHL Officials' Association, Professional Hockey Trainers and Equipment Managers, corporate marketing partners, broadcast partners and fans.

See also

Heritage Classic

List of defunct NHL teams

List of NHL records (individual)

History of the National Hockey League

List of NHL records (team)

List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada

List of TV markets and major sports teams

List of American and Canadian cities by number of major professional sports franchises

Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada

NHL Winter Classic

Professional Hockey Writers Association

Footnotes

Citations

;Bibliography

Further reading

}}

External links

NHL Player's Association (NHLPA)

NHL Officials Association website

Category:Organizations established in 1917 Category:Professional sports leagues 1 1

ang:National Hockey League ar:دوري الهوكي الوطني be-x-old:Нацыянальная хакейная ліга bg:Национална хокейна лига ca:NHL cs:National Hockey League da:National Hockey League de:National Hockey League et:NHL es:National Hockey League eo:NHL fa:لیگ ملی هاکی fr:Ligue nationale de hockey gl:National Hockey League ko:내셔널 하키 리그 hr:National Hockey League id:National Hockey League it:National Hockey League he:NHL lv:Nacionālā hokeja līga lt:Nacionalinė ledo ritulio lyga hu:National Hockey League mk:Национална хокејарска лига nl:National Hockey League ja:NHL no:National Hockey League mhr:Националле хоккей лиге pl:National Hockey League pt:National Hockey League ro:National Hockey League ru:Национальная хоккейная лига simple:National Hockey League sk:National Hockey League sl:NHL sr:Национална хокејашка лига sh:NHL fi:NHL sv:National Hockey League tr:National Hockey League uk:Національна хокейна ліга zh:國家冰球聯盟

team	Anaheim Ducks
league	NHL
position	Right wing
shoots	Right
height ft	6
height in	3
weight lb	206
birth date	May 16, 1985
birth place	New Liskeard, ON, CAN
draft	28th overall
draft year	2003
draft team	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
career start	2005 }}

Corey Perry (born May 16, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Drafted out of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), he captured a Memorial Cup with the London Knights and a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships during his major junior career. He was selected by the Ducks 28th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and won the Stanley Cup with the club in 2007. In 2010, he won the Olympic Gold Medal with Canada at the Vancouver Games. In 2011, Perry won the Hart Trophy as the National Hockey League MVP for the 2010-11 season.

Playing career

Minor hockey

Perry grew up playing hockey with the Peterborough Minor Petes AAA organization of the OMHA in the Eastern AAA league. In 2001, Perry led his Petes to a victory in the inaugural OHL Cup Bantam AAA championship held in Peterborough.

Junior hockey

After a standout minor hockey career, Perry was drafted fifth overall into the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) by the London Knights in the 2001 Priority Draft. He immediately produced at a point-per-game pace the Knights, recording 59 points in 60 games in his rookie season. The following year, his NHL draft year, Perry improved to 78 points and was selected 28th overall in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Perry attended Saunders Secondary School in London as he remained with the Knights for two more seasons and was nearly traded by the Ducks in the NHL season immediately after his draft. It was reported that Perry was to be sent to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Mike Comrie, but the trade never materialized as Oilers' GM Kevin Lowe asked Comrie to repay a portion of his bonus money.

Entering his fourth and final year with the Knights in 2004–05, Perry scored a junior career high 130 points in 60 games. He went on to post an additional 38 points in the post-season to capture the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions, en route to a Memorial Cup championship.

Anaheim Ducks

Perry made his debut with the Ducks the following season, in 2005–06, however, he was sent down to the American Hockey League (AHL) early in the year, along with fellow rookie and future linemate Ryan Getzlaf. Perry and Getzlaf combined for 67 points in 36 games with the Portland Pirates and were subsequently called back to the Ducks. Perry finished his rookie season with 25 points in 56 games with Anaheim. In 2006–07, Perry improved to 44 points in a full 82 games, playing with Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner on a combination dubbed the "Kid Line". He went on in the playoffs to win a Stanley Cup championship with the Ducks, recording 15 points in 21 games.

The following year, in 2007–08, Perry increased his totals to 29 goals and 54 points and was named to his first NHL All-Star Game as an injury replacement, along with Scott Niedermayer, to join Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf as four Ducks on the Western Conference squad. In the off-season, on July 1, 2008, Perry signed a five-year contract extension with the Ducks worth $26.625 million – identical to a deal Getzlaf had agreed to the previous off-season. 2008–09 was a breakout year for Perry. He led the Ducks with 32 goals, and finished second on the team with 72 points. He contributed eight goals and six assists during the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs that saw the Ducks advance to Game 7 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals against the rival Detroit Red Wings, who ultimately ended the Ducks season with the Game 7 victory. Perry scored the Ducks second goal of that game.

In 2009–10, Perry had a 19-game point streak going until it was snapped on December 4, 2009, against the Dallas Stars. Perry ended the year with 76 points, which led the team. The following year, in 2010–11, Perry led the league with 50 goals, winning the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy. He reached the feat with a hat trick against the San Jose Sharks on April 6, 2011. With 48 assists, he finished the season 98 points, which ranked third in the league. Perry was also chosen to the 2011 NHL All Star Game, where he won the Shootout Elimination Challenge in the Skills Competition. At the end of the 2011 NHL Season, Perry won the Hart Trophy, winning over finalists Daniel Sedin and Martin St. Louis, as the MVP of the regular season.

International play

Canada }}

He helped lead Canada to a gold medal in the 2005 IIHF World Juniors, alongside Sidney Crosby and Patrice Bergeron on the first line. On December 30, 2009, Perry was selected to play for Team Canada at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. On April 16, 2010, Perry was among the first group of 15 players to be named to Team Canada for the 2010 IIHF World Championships.

2010 Winter Olympics

In Team Canada's first game of the tournament, Perry helped lead Team Canada to an 8-0 victory of Norway by scoring one goal. In the Quarterfinals against Russia, he scored two goals in a 7-3 win. He scored the second goal in the gold medal game against the United States to make the score 2-0 in the second period. They went on to win the game with a score of 3-2 in overtime.

Awards

''Juniors''

2001–02 - OHL - First All-Rookie Team

2003–04 - OHL - First All-Star Team

2003–04 - CHL - Second All-Star Team

2004–05 - Memorial Cup - Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy (MVP)

2004–05 - Memorial Cup - All-Star Team

2004–05 - OHL - Red Tilson Trophy (Most Outstanding Player)

2004–05 - OHL - Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy (Leading Scorer)

2004–05 - OHL - Wayne Gretzky 99 Award (Playoff MVP)

2004–05 - OHL - First All-Star Team

''NHL''

2006–07 - NHL - Stanley Cup (Anaheim)

2007–08 - NHL - Played in All-Star Game

2010–11 - NHL - Played in All-Star Game

2010–11 - NHL - Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy

2010–11 - NHL - Hart Memorial Trophy

2010–11 - NHL - First All-Star Team

''International''

2005 - IIHF World Junior Championships gold medal (Canada)

2010 - Olympic gold medal (Canada)

Career statistics

! GP!!Goal (ice hockey) 46 — 28 2 25 7 40 7 — 1 47 11 16 — 13 0 17 6 29 2 32 8 27 — 50 2

colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"			! colspan="5"		Playoffs
Season (sports)>Season!!Team!!League	G!!A!!Pts!!PIM		! GP!!G!!A!!Pts!!PIM
2000–01	Peterborough Minor Petes Bantam AAA		OMHA		67	73	|	119	—	—	|	—	—	—
2001–02 OHL season	2001–02		London Knights			60	|	31	59	56	12	|	3	5	30
2002–03 OHL season	2002–03		London Knights		OHL	67	|	53	78	147	14	|	16	23	27
2003–04 OHL season	2003–04		London Knights		OHL	66	|	73	113	98	15	|	15	22	20
2003–04 AHL season	2003–04		Cincinnati Mighty Ducks			—	|	—	—	—	3	|	1	2	4
2004–05 OHL season	2004–05		London Knights		OHL	60	|	83	130	117	18	|	27	38	46
2005–06 AHL season	2005–06		Portland Pirates		AHL	19	|	18	34	32	—	|	—	—	—
2005–06 NHL season	2005–06		Mighty Ducks of Anaheim			56	|	12	25	50	11	|	3	3	16
2006–07 NHL season	2006–07		Anaheim Ducks		NHL	82	|	27	44	55	21	|	9	15	37
2007–08 NHL season	2007–08		Anaheim Ducks		NHL	70	|	25	54	108	3	|	1	3	8
2008–09 NHL season	2008–09		Anaheim Ducks		NHL	78	|	40	72	109	13	|	6	14	36
2009–10 NHL season	2009–10		Anaheim Ducks		NHL	82	|	49	76	111	—	|	—	—	—
2010–11 NHL season	2010–11		Anaheim Ducks		NHL	82	|	48	98	104	6	|	6	8	4
NHL totals			! 450!!168!!201!!369!!537		! 54!!18!!25!!43!!101
AHL totals			! 19!!16!!18!!34!!32		! 3!!1!!1!!2!!16
OHL totals			! 253!!140!!240!!380!!416		! 59!!27!!61!!88!!123

Family

His younger brother Adam Perry played alongside him on the London Knights' 2005 Memorial Cup-winning team. Adam currently plays for the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL. Corey currently lives in London Ontario Canada in the off season and in Newport Coast, CA during the NHL season.

His parents are Geoff, a policeman for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and Nancy. When he was three years old, Perry was watching a hockey game on television, holding a mini-stick, when he turned to his mother and said, "One day I'm going to play for you on TV, Mom."

Community

Perry continues to be active in the community in London, Ontario. The ''Corey Perry: A Round for a Cure Golf Tournament'' has raised over $100'000 for the Wellspring London and Region Cancer Support Centre http://www.wellspring.ca/london

Jim McKellar, the assistant general manager of the London Knights when Perry played for them, has said about Corey, "He's a very personable guy who has a great sense of humour. He's also great with the fans. He was always very accommodating and never said no to anything we asked him to participate in. Whether it was a trip to the hospital or an autograph session, Corey was great. He was the ideal ambassador."

Equipment

At the start of his career, Perry used a blue Easton Stealth for a stick, for gloves he used TPS R8's, for a helmet he used a Bauer 8500, and for skates he used Bauer Vapor XXXX's. For the 2009-2010 season, Perry used Easton Stealth S17 stick, Easton Pro gloves, Bauer Vapor X60 skates, and a Bauer 8500 helmet.

References

External links

| after = Incumbent}} | after = Incumbent}}

Category:1985 births Category:Anaheim Ducks players Category:Canadian ice hockey right wingers Category:Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players Category:Ice hockey people from Ontario Category:Ice hockey players at the 2010 Winter Olympics Category:Living people Category:London Knights alumni Category:Memorial Cup winners Category:Mighty Ducks of Anaheim draft picks Category:Mighty Ducks of Anaheim players Category:National Hockey League All-Stars Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks Category:National Hockey League players with 50 goal seasons Category:Olympic gold medalists for Canada Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Canada Category:People from Peterborough, Ontario Category:Portland Pirates players Category:Rocket Richard Trophy winners Category:Stanley Cup champions Category:Olympic medalists in ice hockey

cs:Corey Perry de:Corey Perry fr:Corey Perry hr:Corey Perry lv:Korijs Perijs pl:Corey Perry ru:Перри, Кори fi:Corey Perry sv:Corey Perry

position	Centre
shot	Right
height ft	6
height in	5
weight lb	231
played for	Nacka HK (Allsvenskan)Djurgårdens IF (SEL)Quebec NordiquesToronto Maple LeafsVancouver Canucks
ntl team	Sweden
birth date	February 13, 1971
birth place	Bromma, Sweden
career start	1988
career end	2009
draft	1st overall
draft year	1989
draft team	Quebec Nordiques

Mats Johan Sundin (; born February 13, 1971) is a retired Swedish professional ice hockey player. Originally drafted first overall in 1989, Sundin played his first four seasons in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques. He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1994, where he played the majority of his career, serving 11 seasons as team captain. At the end of the 2007–08 NHL season, Sundin had been the longest serving non-North American born captain in NHL history. Sundin last played for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2008–09 season before announcing his retirement on September 30, 2009.

Excluding his rookie season, the shortened lockout season and his half season with the Vancouver Canucks, Sundin scored at least 70 points in every season of his career, played at least 70 games in every season, and led the Leafs in points in every year he has been with the team except 2002–03, when Alexander Mogilny beat him by seven points. On October 14, 2006, Sundin became the first Swedish player to score 500 goals. He is the Leafs' franchise all-time leader in goals (420) and points (984). He is currently tied with Jaromír Jágr, Sergei Fedorov, and Patrik Eliáš for the NHL record for regular-season overtime goals (15). Over his career, Sundin averaged just over a point per game (1349 points in 1346 NHL games).

Internationally, Sundin won three gold medals with Sweden at the World Championships and a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.

Playing career

Quebec Nordiques

Sundin was drafted by the Quebec Nordiques with the first overall pick in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, becoming the first European-born player drafted first overall in NHL history. At the time, Sundin was playing in the Swedish second-tier Allsvenskan for Nacka HK. He played the following season in the Elitserien for Djurgårdens IF, helping the club to the Le Mat Trophy as league champions.

Sundin made his NHL debut with Quebec during the 1990–91 NHL season, finishing second on the team behind Joe Sakic with 59 points. He scored his first NHL goal against the Hartford Whalers in his first NHL game on October 4, 1990. After improving to 76 points in his second NHL season, he led the Nordiques with a career-high 114 points in 1992–93, emerging as one of the league's premier young players. He played one more season with the Nordiques, recording 85 points in 84 games, before being dealt to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs acquired Sundin in a trade on June 28, 1994. The Nordiques sent Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner, and a 1994 first-round draft pick (acquired through the 1992 Eric Lindros deal, traded to the Washington Capitals, used to pick Nolan Baumgartner) to the Leafs in exchange for Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson, and a 1994 first-round draft pick (used to pick Jeff Kealty). However, as a result of the 1994–95 lockout, Sundin's Toronto debut was delayed and he returned to Sweden to play again for Djurgårdens IF. When NHL play resumed later that season, Sundin made an immediate impact, leading the Leafs in scoring at a point-per-game pace with 47 points. In his third season with the Maple Leafs, Sundin recorded a 41-goal, 94-point season, the second-highest of his career and the most prolific during his tenure in Toronto. With the departure of team captain Doug Gilmour to the New Jersey Devils during the 1996–97 season, Sundin was named Gilmour's successor, becoming the sixteenth Maple Leafs captain and first European captain in team history.

After an 83-point campaign in 1998–99, Sundin led the Maple Leafs into the 1999 playoffs as the fourth seed. Bolstered by the acquisitions of forward Steve Thomas and goaltender Curtis Joseph in the previous off-season, the Leafs made it to the Eastern Conference Finals against the seventh-seeded Buffalo Sabres, but were defeated in five games. Sundin made another appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals with the Maple Leafs again in 2001–02, but lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. Sundin finished with a career-playoff-high 16 points in 17 playoff contests.

In 2002–03, after eight consecutive years as the Maple Leafs' leading scorer in the regular season, Sundin was succeeded by Alexander Mogilny, who topped Sundin's 72 points with 79. The following season, Mogilny suffered a serious hip injury that required him to miss 12 weeks which allowed Sundin to reclaim his spot as top scorer for the Maple Leafs that season. During the 2003–04 campaign, however, Sundin was the subject of league controversy with his infamous stick-throwing incident on January 8, 2004, against the Nashville Predators. Breaking his stick on an attempted shot, Sundin threw it aside in disgust. Instead of hitting the glass, the stick inadvertently went flying into the crowd. Deemed a reckless act by the league, Sundin was subsequently assigned a one-game suspension. After the game, as an apology, he gave a brand new autographed stick to the fan that had caught the broken stick.

As a result of the ensuing 2004–05 NHL lockout, Sundin spent the next season inactive, opting not to play in Sweden like many of his countrymen. When NHL play resumed for 2005–06, Sundin was sidelined in the first game of the season when he was struck in the face with a puck, narrowly missing his eye, but breaking his orbital bone. He returned to the lineup after a month to lead the team in scoring with 78 points. However, the Leafs did not meet the same success and missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years in 2006. It would also mark the first of Sundin's last three years with the Leafs without a post-season appearance.

Near the beginning of the 2006–07 season, Sundin became just the 35th player in NHL history to reach the 500-goal mark. He achieved the milestone on October 14, 2006, with a hat trick effort against Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames. He scored the 500th goal with his third mark of the game over Kiprusoff's blocker in overtime to defeat the Flames 5–4. Later in the season, on March 20, 2007, Sundin reached 900 points as a Maple Leaf with a two-assist effort in a 2–1 win against the New Jersey Devils.

The following season, in 2007–08, Sundin began approaching several team records as a Maple Leaf. In the second game of the season, on October 4, 2007, against the Ottawa Senators, Sundin scored his 389th goal with the club, tying Darryl Sittler's team record. In Toronto's fifth game of the season, on October 11 versus the New York Islanders, Sundin scored his 917th point as a Maple Leaf, breaking Darryl Sittler's franchise all-time record. In the same game, he also scored his 390th goal in the third period, taking sole possession of the all-time goal-scoring lead. At the end of the game, he was ceremoniously elected the first, second, and third star of the game. On November 27, in a game against the Montreal Canadiens, Sundin became the first player to score 400 goals as a Leaf. Several days later, on December 1, in a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, he broke Babe Dye's 83-year-old Toronto record when he extended his home game point streak to 15 games.

With the Leafs falling out of playoff contention once more towards the end of the season and Sundin's contract set to expire, Sundin was the focus of numerous trade rumours as the February 26 trade deadline approached. Maple Leafs management requested that Sundin waive his no-trade clause in order for the team to acquire potential young talent and/or draft picks to secure the team's future. On February 25, however, he stated that he would not waive his no-trade clause, stating that he did not believe in being a "rental player" and that if he won the Stanley Cup, he wanted to do it over the course of a whole season. He remained with the club and, with 78 points, marked the fourth consecutive year and twelfth of thirteen years as the Maple Leafs leading scorer.

Vancouver Canucks

Sundin became a free agent on July 1, 2008, although the Maple Leafs had previously given the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers special rights to negotiate with him until then. On the day of free agency, newly appointed general manager Mike Gillis of the Vancouver Canucks offered Sundin a lucrative two-year, $20 million contract which, if signed, would have made him the highest paid player in the NHL. Attempting to entice him to sign with the Canucks, numerous Vancouver businesses extended Swedish-centred special offers, such as a Volvo and IKEA products. The Rangers, Canadiens and Leafs also made contract offers, however, Sundin chose to hold out for the beginning of the season, contemplating retirement. After announcing that he would, in fact, return to the NHL and sign with a team, he narrowed his prospects down to the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. On December 18, 2008, the Canucks announced that Sundin had signed with the club to a one-year, $8.6 million contract. Pro-rated for the remainder of the season, Sundin's salary worked out to $5 million. Taking a $1.4 million pay cut from the Canucks' original yearly offer, Sundin reportedly decreased his contract willingly in order to give the Canucks added salary cap space to potentially bolster their lineup before the end of the season.

Sundin made his Canucks debut on January 7, 2009, in a 4–2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, and scored his first goal with the club two games later, on January 10, a powerplay goal in a 4–2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Sundin returned to Toronto on February 21, 2009, to play his first game against the Maple Leafs. The return to the Air Canada Centre became highly emotional when a video tribute was paid to the Leafs' franchise leader during a break in the first period followed by a standing ovation. The game was decided by a shootout with Sundin scoring the winning goal against his former team resulting in a 3–2 win for Vancouver. Having established himself as a point-per-game player throughout his career, Sundin was criticized for his regular-season play, managing just 28 points in 41 games while playing mostly on the second line with Pavol Demitra and Ryan Kesler, Sundin returned to point-per-game form in the 2009 playoffs, however, as the Canucks entered the post-season as the Northwest Division champions. He missed the final two games of the Canucks first-round sweep against the St. Louis Blues with a suspected hip injury after falling awkwardly behind the net in game two, but returned in time for the second round against the Chicago Blackhawks. As the Canucks were eliminated in six games, Sundin finished the playoffs with 8 points in 8 games. On September 30, 2009, Sundin announced his retirement at a press conference in his native Stockholm, Sweden.

International play

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Sundin has represented Team Sweden at various international competitions, including the World Cup and the Winter Olympics, and has held the position of team captain for the national squad for the better part of the last decade. Sundin is widely recognized as one of the top players in the world in these international competitions, and has added a highly impressive list of accomplishments to his credentials as a result of his outstanding performance in the 2002 Winter Olympics and 2004 World Cup. Sundin has won three IIHF World Championships with Sweden in 1991, 1992 and 1998. Sundin finally clinched an Olympic gold medal with Team Sweden in 2006 in Turin.

A picture of his 'fighting face' when Sweden turned a 5–1 deficit into a 6–5 win over Finland during a World Championship game has become iconic. Sundin was the captain of the Swedish National Team in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Despite the controversy surrounding the team allegedly throwing a game earlier in the tournament, he led them to a gold medal with a 3–2 victory over Finland in the final. After leading his team to the gold medal in Turin, he stated that he did not expect to return to the national team.

Sundin has played for Sweden in:

1989 European Junior Championships

1990 European Junior Championships

1990 World Junior Championships

1991 Canada Cup

1992 World Championships (gold medal)

1994 World Championships (bronze medal)

1996 World Cup of Hockey

1998 World Championships (gold medal)

1998 Winter Olympics

2001 World Championships

2002 Winter Olympics

2003 World Championships (silver medal)

2004 World Cup of Hockey

2006 Winter Olympics (gold medal)

Personal life

Toronto is home to an intense hockey media, and since Sundin is a private individual, he was arguably the most scrutinized athlete in the city. He regularly deflected any probes into his personal life, and rarely spoke negatively of his teammates in public. In 2006, Sundin put his four-bedroom house up for sale for a price of $6.499 million, which led to a flurry of media speculation that he was unhappy with the Leafs and sought to move (and play) somewhere else. However, Sundin and his longtime girlfriend Tina Fagerström had parted ways, and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment CEO Richard Peddie simply commented that the real estate market was very hot, and that Sundin's house was "an awfully big house for a single guy." Sundin played with the Leafs the following NHL season. On April 30, 2008, Sundin was receiving a leadership award at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School in Guelph, Ontario, when he announced that he and his girlfriend Josephine Johansson were engaged to be married. The two had been dating for about a year.

In September 2008, Sundin announced an endorsement deal with PokerStars. He plays under the username "MatsSundin" and will donate any earnings to charity.

On August 29, 2009, Mats married fiancée Josephine Johansson. The guest list exceeded 200 people and included several current(at the time) and ex-teammates.

Records

NHL

Tied-most regular season overtime goals (15, shared with Jaromír Jágr, Sergei Fedorov and Patrik Eliáš)

Tied-20th in career goals (564, shared with Joe Nieuwendyk)

32nd in career assists (785)

25th all time in career points (1349)

First European-born and trained player to be drafted first overall in the NHL Entry Draft (1989 by the Quebec Nordiques)

Longest serving European-born and trained captain of an NHL franchise in league history (10 seasons)

Only Swedish player to reach the 500 goal milestone (564)

Most career points, goals and assists by a Swedish hockey player

Tied-Fastest overtime goal (6 seconds, shared with Alexander Ovechkin, Simon Gagné and David Legwand)

First Swedish player to reach 1000 points

One of two players (Marcel Dionne) to record at least 20 goals in his first 16 NHL seasons

Most games played by a European born-and-trained forward (1346)

Toronto Maple Leafs

Goals (420)

Assists by a forward (587)

Points (987)

Tied-assists in a period (3, Darcy Tucker, Matt Stajan and Clarke MacArthur)

Awards and achievements

TV-pucken Champion as part of Team Stockholm 1986.

Swedish Champion in 1990.

First European born player to be drafted first overall in the NHL Entry Draft. (1989)

Named to the Elitserien World All-Star Team in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1998.

Recipient of the Viking Award in 1993, 1994, 1997, and 2002.

Named to the World Championships All-Star Team in 1992 and 2003.

World Championships' Best Forward in 1992.

Named to the Canada Cup All-Star Team in 1991.

Named to the World Cup of Hockey All-Star Team in 1996.

Played in the NHL All-Star Game in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 (injured) and 2004.

Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team in 2002 and 2004.

Named to the Olympic Tournament All-Star Team in 2002.

Captain of the Swedish national ice hockey team in the 2006 Olympics in which Sweden acquired the gold medal.

Achieved 500 goal plateau on October 14, 2006.

Achieved 1,300 points on February 7, 2008 vs the Montreal Canadiens.

Awarded the "Mark Messier Leadership Award" in 2008.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="0" width="75%" style="text-align:center" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! colspan="5" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! colspan="5" | Playoffs |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1988–89 | Nacka HK | Swe-2 | 25 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1989–90 | Djurgårdens IF | SEL | 34 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 4 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1990–91 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 80 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1991–92 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 80 | 33 | 43 | 76 | 103 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1992–93 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 80 | 47 | 67 | 114 | 96 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |- | 1993–94 | Quebec Nordiques | NHL | 84 | 32 | 53 | 85 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1994–95 | Djurgårdens IF | SEL | 12 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 14 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1994–95 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 47 | 23 | 24 | 47 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1995–96 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 76 | 33 | 50 | 83 | 46 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 |- | 1996–97 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 41 | 53 | 94 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1997–98 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 33 | 41 | 74 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 1998–99 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 31 | 52 | 83 | 58 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 16 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1999–00 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 73 | 32 | 41 | 73 | 46 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 10 |- | 2000–01 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 28 | 46 | 74 | 76 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 14 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2001–02 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 82 | 41 | 39 | 80 | 94 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |- | 2002–03 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 75 | 37 | 35 | 72 | 58 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2003–04 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 81 | 31 | 44 | 75 | 52 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 |- | 2005–06 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 70 | 31 | 47 | 78 | 58 | — | — | — | — | — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2006–07 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 75 | 27 | 49 | 76 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — |- | 2007–08 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NHL | 74 | 32 | 46 | 78 | 76 | — | — | — | — | — |-bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2008–09 | Vancouver Canucks | NHL | 41 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 28 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 2 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan=3| NHL totals ! 1346 ! 564 ! 785 ! 1349 ! 1093 ! 91 ! 38 ! 44 ! 82 ! 74 |}

International

{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" width=35% |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Year ! Team ! Event ! ALIGN="center" rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM |- ALIGN="center" | 1989 | Sweden | EJC | 6 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 8 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1990 | Sweden | EJC | 6 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 14 |- ALIGN="center" | 1990 | Sweden | WJC | 7 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 6 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1991 | Sweden | CC | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 |- ALIGN="center" | 1992 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 8 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1994 | Sweden | WC | 8 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" | 1996 | Sweden | WCH | 4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1998 | Sweden | Oly | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" | 1998 | Sweden | WC | 10 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 6 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2001 | Sweden | WC | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |- ALIGN="center" | 2002 | Sweden | Oly | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 10 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2003 | Sweden | WC | 7 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 10 |- ALIGN="center" | 2004 | Sweden | WCH | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2006 | Sweden | Oly | 8 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 |- ALIGN="center" bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan=3 | Senior int'l totals ! 65 ! 31 ! 46 ! 77 ! 52 |}

See also

List of Swedes in sports

List of NHL players with 500 goals

List of NHL players with 1000 points

List of NHL players with 1000 games played

List of NHL players with 100 point seasons

List of NHL statistical leaders

List of players with five or more goals in an NHL game

References

External links

Category:1971 births Category:Djurgårdens IF Hockey players Category:Ice hockey players at the 1998 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players at the 2002 Winter Olympics Category:Ice hockey players at the 2006 Winter Olympics Category:Living people Category:National Hockey League All-Stars Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks Category:National Hockey League first overall draft picks Category:National Hockey League players with 100 point seasons Category:Olympic gold medalists for Sweden Category:Olympic ice hockey players of Sweden Category:People from Stockholm Category:Quebec Nordiques draft picks Category:Quebec Nordiques players Category:Swedish expatriate ice hockey people Category:Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Category:Swedish ice hockey players Category:Toronto Maple Leafs players Category:Vancouver Canucks players Category:Olympic medalists in ice hockey

cs:Mats Sundin da:Mats Sundin de:Mats Sundin fr:Mats Sundin it:Mats Sundin lv:Matss Sundins pl:Mats Sundin pt:Mats Sundin ru:Сундин, Матс simple:Mats Sundin sk:Mats Sundin sl:Mats Sundin fi:Mats Sundin sv:Mats Sundin uk:Матс Сундін