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The National Hockey League (NHL; French: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH) 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 26, 1917, in Montreal, Canada, 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. The nation to which the name of the league originally referred was Canada, although the league is now binational with a preponderance of teams in the United States. 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.

James Russell Howard III (born March 26, 1984) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. He was runner up in voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy following the 2009-10 NHL Season as the NHL's rookie of the year.

Jimmy Howard began his junior career playing for the Westport Rideaus of the Eastern Ontario Junior Hockey League, where he played from ages 14–16 before joining the U.S. National Team Development Program. He played with the U.S. National Under-17 and U.S. National Under-18 teams during the 2001–02 season, playing 9 games with the Under-17 team and 26 games with the Under-18 team for a total record of 22–11–1 with four shutouts. In April 2002, Howard played for the United States in the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championships in Slovakia. Playing in six tournament games, he led his team to a Gold Medal and was subsequently named USA goaltender of the year. Howard then attended the University of Maine and played for their men's ice hockey team, the Maine Black Bears, for three seasons. While at UMaine, Howard led the Black Bears to the 2003–2004 Frozen Four championship game, losing 1–0 to the University of Denver. While Howard was playing for the Black Bears, he was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. During his three seasons with the Black Bears, Howard set team and league records.

Pavel Valerievich Datsyuk (Russian: Па́вел Вале́рьевич Дацю́к, IPA: [ˈpavʲɪl dɐˈt͡sʲʉk]; born July 20, 1978) is a professional ice hockey player from Russia and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is known for his stick-handling and is considered one of the best two-way forwards in the game today, having won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in the 2007–08, 2008–09, and 2009–10 NHL seasons. Datsyuk also won four consecutive Lady Byng Memorial Trophies from 2006-09 for performance and sportsmanship. He was nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player following the 2008–09 season. Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup in 2002 and 2008 with the Red Wings.

Datsyuk was born in Sverdlovsk (Cвердловск) (now Yekaterinburg), in the Urals region of Russia. His parents call him by his short name "Pasha" from an early age. His childhood had more than its fair share of difficulties, especially at the age of 16, when his mother died. While Datsyuk displayed above-average hockey skills, he was often overlooked by scouts because of his smaller size. He began playing for the farm club of Dynamo Yekaterinburg in the mid-1990s, though he seemed headed for an undistinguished career until noted Olympic trainer Vladimir Krikunov began coaching the team. The boy “with the twitchy walk” caught the eye of Krikunov, but not on the ice. Instead, Datsyuk excelled on the soccer field, where his anticipation, vision, and intelligence were more apparent. Under Krikunov, Datsyuk evolved into a particularly efficient two-way player, and he began to draw wider attention among Russian hockey fans. Despite his early successes, however, he went undrafted in the 1996 and 1997 NHL drafts.

Daniel Alfredsson (born 11 December 1972) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player. He is the captain of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is considered a leader by example and has been compared to former Detroit Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman in his value to the Senators. A right winger with the Senators, Alfredsson usually plays on the first line, which was formerly nicknamed the 'CASH' or 'Pizza' line with centre Jason Spezza and left winger Dany Heatley, before Heatley's trade to the San Jose Sharks. He has traditionally been the fourth forward on the ice in the role of pointman on Ottawa's powerplay. He is one of the league's top two-way players, and he holds the Senators' franchise records for goals (404), assists (655), and points (1059) with 1100 games played. He has played for Sweden internationally thirteen times, including the 2006 gold medal winning Olympic squad. He was the 75th player to reach 1,000 career points in the NHL, scoring three goals in a win over the Buffalo Sabres on 22 October 2010.