NHL

The National Hockey League (NHL) is the largest professional hockey league in North America. The league started with four teams in Canada until expanding to the U.S. with the Boston Bruins in 1924. After having as many as 10 teams in 1930, the league dropped to the “Original Six”—the Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers and Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, the NHL has 26 teams in the U.S. (25 active) and seven in Canada.

The NHL’s 32 teams are divided into two conferences, the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference, and all teams play 82 regular-season games from October until mid-April. The team with the best overall regular-season record is awarded the Presidents’ Trophy. The top eight teams from each conference play in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the two conference champions advancing to the Stanley Cup Final. The winner of the best-of-seven championship series wins the Stanley Cup trophy, the oldest existing championship trophy in professional sports.

Gary Bettman was named the first commissioner of the NHL in February 1993, and he’s the longest-serving sports commissioner in North American sports. Before Bettman’s appointment, the league’s highest executive office was the NHL president, a role which five people have held. During Bettman’s tenure, the NHL experienced three work stoppages, along with significant league expansion.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are the most valuable NHL franchise at $2.65 billion, according to Sportico’s latest NHL valuations. The average NHL team is worth $1.31 billion.