Expansion and Change of National Hockey League

Expansion and Change in the NHL (1967–90)

In 1967, six new US-based teams joined the NHL, including California Seals (Oakland Seals), Minnesota North Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St Louis Blues. The Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks were added in 1970, and the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders were added in 1972. In 1974, with the participation of the Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals, the total number of team members had reached 18, of which only three were from and based in Canada. Montreal remained the predominant team, winning eight championships in the 60s and 90s ( from 1967 and 1979).

In 1979, the NHL expanded even bigger when it merged with the World Hockey Association (WHA). The WHA had been founded recently in 1971, disrupting the NHL’s monopoly on professional hockey. In its first season, there were many athletes in the league with NHL experience, including such talents as Bernie Parent, Bobby Hull, John McKenzie and Brian Conacher. Hockey legend Gordie Howe has joined his sons, Marty and Mark, in Houston the next season. The WHA started with 12 teams and grew to 14 teams before rising expenses and dwindling crowds forced it to reduce to seven in 1978–79. In 1979, the WHA folded. Follow that, Edmonton Oilers, The Winnipeg Jets, Québec Nordiques and Hartford Whalers were assimilated by the NHL.

In 1980, the Atlanta franchise moved to Calgary which brought the number of NHL teams in Canada to seven. In 1983–84, Edmonton became the first of the original-WHA teams to get the Stanley Cup, ending a four-year dominant time of the New York Islanders. The high-scoring Oilers (with such talents as Mark Messier and Wayne Gretzky) won the cup in four of the next six seasons. In the early 1990s, Mario Lemieux’s Pittsburgh Penguins became the winning team, taking back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1990–91 and 1991–92, and winning a record of 17 games in a row in 1992–93 — a record that still stands today.